Esme's long lost Grace?
by jamacd97
Summary: Esme has a daughter? Or at least step daughter. Through lots of flashbacks and fluff find out how Esme found her long lost step daughter and how their family expands.
1. Chapter 1: Where are they?

Grace's POV

I couldn't quite catch myself as I fell into the pile of leaves. That was the weirdest part of this. That I couldn't quite sense what was happening around me until everything went dark. It stayed that way for awhile until I could see and hear again which is when the pain started. Jane really knew what she was doing.

"No more playing around Grace. Where are the Cullen's?" I screamed as she hit me with her powers again then let me go.

"I don't know…" Jane groaned and stalked away leaving me alone in the leaves. I couldn't stay here for to long. I know we were near the Cullen's place and I couldn't let her see me. The rest I knew would be fine if they saw me but Esme couldn't. Not that she would recognize me but I couldn't face her. I slowly got up and ran towards the Denali's house. They had moved down to Victoria, BC, when the Cullens did. They wanted to stay close. Victoria was the perfect place for vampires to live as it was constantly under clouds and rainy. It was exactly like Forks was. It even had quite a well known University which all the Cullen kids, along with myself, attended. Alice was in my math class. Apparently she wanted to get her elementary education degree. I tried to avoid her in class but it didn't go very well. She had cornered me after class one day.

* * *

"_Can you please move. I need to get to my next class." I wasn't completely lying. I did have my American Sign Language class next but not for another 30 minutes and Alice could sense that._

"_Who are you? Why are you here?" I laughed covering my mouth shaking my head._

"_All I'm going to tell you is my name is Grace and I'm a student here. Yes I am a nomad, no I don't hunt humans, yes I know you because I know the Denali's."_

"_IF you know the Denali's then you should come home and meet Esme and Carli-" I must have grimaced or something because she stopped halfway through Carlisle's name. "Why did you just make that face at Esme's name? What do you know about her?"_

"_I know Esme better than you do but she wont want me around so no. I wont come home with you but thank you Alice." I managed to slip around the little Pixie and headed towards my next class leaving her alone and confused._

* * *

Before I could even get close to the door of the Denali's house, Kate opened the door looking confused. She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house and straight to Carmen who made me sit down before I was allowed to even speak.

"Jane and Alec finally caught up to me. They don't know where they are but they tried to get it from me."

"Why did you tell Alice Esme wouldn't want to see you? She would! I know she does!" I shook my head looking down at my hands.

"Why would she want to see me? I'd just be a reminder of him. No. It's fine. I'm only staying here until I get my degree then ill leave you alone again." Kate sat beside me and grabbed my hands. She cupped my chin and made me look up at her.

"You are not leaving me again. No." I sighed looking at her smiling.

"My love. Trust me. I would never leave for long. You know I can't. Just enough that they will have moved again. Alice got to close." Kate sighed and pulled me into her arms as Carmen left us alone to give us some space. "You are my mate. No matter what. I love you Kate but I'm terrified. I wont ruin her life by being around. You are the only reason I stay close to you guys and don't just move to London or something to get away from them."

"I know my love. It's just hard seeing you in so much pain. I wish you could see that her seeing you would not cause her any pain. In fact it would be the opposite. She would be so excited to see you. She misses you. She loves you. Yes I said loves and not loved because she does. No she doesn't know you are a vampire nor does she know you are still alive." I leant against her as Carmen and Eleazar came back into the room holding hands. They had some very suspicious looks on their faces as they sat across from us

"We did something and you may hate us but this is needed for both of you." I gasped standing up.

"You didn't! That was the one thing I asked of you!" I couldn't believe they had called them. Which meant they were on their way. There was no way of me getting out of it unless I jumped into the ocean and swam to the states.

"You are not jumping into the ocean and getting away. And do not even think about using your powers again. You'll just over tire yourself. You aren't used to it yet." I groaned at the father figure in my life and flopped back on the couch covering my face. Sometimes it sucked moving in with them because I had spent the first 110 years of my life with no parental figures with the one exception of my step mom when I was 10-12 but now Carmen and Eleazar won't let me forget I've become one of their 'kids'. I mean I was technically 22 but that didn't change anything to them. I stood up quickly.

"I have Psych in 30 minutes so I wont be here. Oops." I went up to my room, grabbed my bag and kissed Kate lightly. "Don't tell the Cullens I say hi!" I yelled back to the shocked vampires as I got into my car and drove off to class.


	2. Chapter 2: My Grace

Esme's POV

Why the Denali's decided to call and ask us to come over this afternoon made no sense seeing as we had just seen them last night. They said they had a surprise for us. It has been less than 9 hours since we last saw them so I'm not sure how they managed to conjure a surprise in that time but we said we would. I glanced over at Carlisle who had just gotten home from a shift at work and was sitting at his desk looking over paperwork.

"Whats wrong my love?" I chuckled at how well Carlisle knew me. He looked up at me smiling. "What?"

"I just love how well you know me. I haven't spoken much since you got home and know somethings wrong. I'm just not sure what the Denali's could have for us. I'm not really in the mood to go out today…" Carlisle walked over to the couch where I was sitting and kissed my temple putting an arm around my waist sitting beside me.

"I know my love but you can do it. Well go, see them and come home. This should be quick anyways because they want everyone there and we only have 2 hours between classes today." I nodded knowing all this but it still was hard. Today wasn't an easy day for me to do much of anything. Especially this year seeing as it would have been 90 years. She would have turned 110 today and I missed her like crazy. "Let's go for a hunt before we head there hmm?" I nodded and we ran off into the forest."

* * *

Kate's POV

I couldn't believe they had done this. Why would Carmen have done this. She knows that this could ruin everything for me. If I have to leave with Grace and leave my sisters it'll kill me. As soon as Grace got home I ran out to her and pulled her into my arms and cradled the back of her head. She laughed.

* * *

Grace's POV

"Kay I haven't even got my backpack out of my care maybe wait till I can stand up properly. My class was only an hour long. I haven't been that long!" Kate shook her head and pulled away pulling out a small box from her coat pocket. I shook my head smiling knowing what it was for.

"Happy Birthday beautiful." I opened the box to see the most beautiful infinity symbol necklace. It was gold with a small diamond in the middle and our names engraved on each side. "I know you don't like extravagant presents but I needed to get you something so its small."

"Thank you Kay… its gorgeous." She took it from the box and clasped it onto my neck the kissed me lightly before pulling away and grabbing my hand and pulling us inside to where the rest of the family was in various positions. I smiled as I was hugged by each of my family members.

I was handed small gifts by each couple and was told not to open them until later that night. The doorbell rang and we all turned as the air got thick. The tension running high knowing who was on the other side and what that meant for me. Eleazar walked over and opened the door, I hid behind Kate as he greeted the new guests.

"Carlisle! Esme! Welcome!"

"Hello Eleazar. Thank you." I heard her poitley say in that voice. I pulled Kate farther back trying to hide behind Tanya as well. "We haven't seen you in about 12 hours!" Carmen laughed walking up to them shaking her head. I tried taking a couple steps back letting go of Kate's hand to escape however I didn't get far before Garrett was right behind me and I backed into him with an oomph. That made all our 'cousins' look up at us. Esme was still being blocked by Eleazar.

Alice grinned looking at me, being the only one who knew who I was. "Grace! I didn't know you would be here!" She skipped up to me and pulled me into a big hug. "I'm glad to see you! You haven't been to class in a couple days!" I looked up at Carmen sheepishly who gave me a disapproving look now knowing when I had said I was going to class meant I had been skipping. She shook her head at me and mouthed the word later, I nodded and looked at Alice.

"Yeah I haven't been up to going lately. Its been a rough couple of weeks." Alice frowned and tilted her head at giving me a weird look knowing I was lying. Edward chuckled. I shot him a look and he laughed harder making Bella elbow him in the gut to stop. I glanced at Jasper who was giving me a look. "So I guess I finally get to meet your family. You've only brought it up once or twice. Or a thousand times."

"Cause you are going to get a long with everyone really well!" Alice was bouncing like crazy which prompted Bella to step up and put her hand on Alice's shoulder to stop her. I tried to turn and bolt out the door before Esme could see me but I wasn't fast enough for Edward who grabbed my arm and shook his head as Kate took over for him.

"Not so fast. You have to face this fear." He didn't understand. All I was gonna do was bring fear and anger for her. She must have hated me. Why else did she leave me like that? "She doesn't hate you. She wasn't thinking. Give her a shot please. Let her see you."

* * *

Esme's POV

I didn't understand what Edward was talking about or even who he was talking to. I also didn't understand why Eleazar wouldn't step aside so I could see what was happening like everyone else.

"She doesn't hate you. She wasn't thinking. Give her a shot please. Let her see you."

"No! And stop reading my thoughts! I can't do this to her!" That was it. I pushed Eleazar aside and gasped seeing the girl who was trying to wriggle out of Kate's arms. My gasp must have been louder than I thought because Grace stopped moving and looked up at me. Grace. She was here.

"hi mom…"


	3. Chapter 3: Fire and Ice

_So a few notes. _

_1\. words in italics (unless otherwise stated) in Edwards pov are thoughts he's focusing on._

_2\. i wont normally be updating every day but i'm on a roll with this story and have some really good ideas i'm excited about._

_3\. please leave any constructive criticism's you may have. _

* * *

Esme's POV

Mom. That word hit me like a brick. Yes I heard it often from all of my adoptive children but coming from her. In her voice it sounded so different. It brought me back there. To Charles and his beatings. It terrified me yet excited me. I could feel Carlisle grabbing my waist as I started to sway.

"I told you…" I heard her murmur towards Edward and Kate who just shook their heads. "I'm sorry… I'll leave… you probably don't want to see me.. I get it." It took a moment to fully understand what she had said and it clicked. She thought I hated her. I bolted over at top speed and pulled her into my arms wrapping one arm around her waist the other going to cradle her head like I did when she was younger. I felt her wobble a little bit then felt her melt into my arms and wrap her arms around my waist burying her head into my neck.

"Do not leave me again. I do not hate you." I sensed everyone's eyes looking at us as we embraced, I also noted how Kate kept a firm grasp on her waist as if protecting her from me. "Grace I can not believe you are here. I missed you so much. I was dumb please accept my apology because no 'I'm sorry's' will ever do." I felt her nod slightly into my neck then pull back a little bit and looked up at me.

"I never blamed you. I never thought it was your fault. What Charles did to you was not okay. He was a monster. You needed to escape and you had to think of your baby. I'm sorry he died Esme. I can not imagine the pain you went through. I'm glad you found Carlisle mom. He's perfect for you. You have an amazing family." I chuckled as she rolled her eyes at the way Alice bounced more. "Even if some are annoying little pixies." Alice grinned at her sticking her tongue out causing Grace to chuckle and stick her tongue back out at her.

"Kate you're going to have release her eventually. I would like to sit on the couch with her." Kate glanced at her then at me and reluctantly let go of my daughter so I could guide her over to the couch and sit down. She instantly cuddled her way to my side and her head found her spot on my shoulder where she was home. "I promise to you Grace. You are never going to get hurt again. You are safe and home."

* * *

Edwards POV

_She wont want you when she starts to think about who you are. Just take the hugs you can get now and when she leaves you will at least have gotten to say goodbye properly. _I groaned and sat on the arm of the chair that Bella had sat down on with Nessie on her lap. Jasper glanced at me and I shook my head lightly as him and Alice settled on the couch with Rose and Emmett. Carlisle sat beside Esme with Kate beside Grace.

"I think this is the first time in a long time I've felt like my family is complete. That everyone is here that needs to be." I could sense Tanya and Kate glance down at the ground for a second. _Not everyone. We're missing one person. _It must have still been hard for them since Irina's death. I could feel Ness climb off Bella's lap and on to Kates and cuddle back into her. Kate smiled and pulled her close to her kissing her head.

"I can not even begin to wonder what is happening in your head right now Edward. Or how Jasper is feeling." Eleazar commented glancing between us. Jasper smiled.  
"Besides a little guilt from Grace it is all happy." He glanced at Kate and Tanya who just nodded their heads ever so slightly as a thank you for not outing how they felt. I felt everyone in the room settle and we all started talking and catching up as a family.

* * *

Graces POV

It was nice. Being in her arms again with Kate right beside me holding my hand to ground me. We all knew if I started to disassociate it wouldn't end well for most people in the room. I think back to my time with Esme when she lived with my father and I. It was the best 2 years of my life. She was so kind and loving and always took care of me. She cleaned me up if dad got to violent and calm me down after hearing him beat her. She would crawl into bed with me and hold me to prove she was there and she was fine. That's how I fell asleep most days, with her. When she left I didn't sleep for 3 weeks. It was the worst time of my life.

"GRACE!"

I had been so caught up in my thoughts and my memories of him I didn't even notice my skin begin to boil or my hair catching on flames. I whipped my head around trying to cool myself down which just caused the ice picks to go flying which fortunately did not hit anyone. I could feel Kate holding my hand trying to zap me lightly to bring me back down but I couldn't calm down. I was to worried I was going to hurt someone. That was until I heard Eleazar say the words and could sense Kate shaking her head until she finally relented and zapped me full power which shot a jolt of electricity through out my body regrounding me enough that I could reign myself in. I bolted upright and backed into the corner trying to get away from my family. So I couldn't hurt anyone else.

* * *

Kates POV

I wasn't quick enough to catch her as she bolted into the corner. I glanced over at Esme who was sitting staring at her hand which had been lightly burned from Grace's skin. I got up and walked over to her.

"Here. This will calm it down."

"What just happened?" She looked up eyes wide as she took the cream and rubbed it on her palm. Her eyes glancing over at Grace who was in the corner shaking clutching her head muttering to herself. "Grace. What just happened?"

Esme's voice must have pulled Grace out of her haze and she looked up at her. Seeing the burn on Esme's hand made her cover her mouth.

"No! I can't! I knew it was a mistake! I hurt you!" Grace shouted as she bolted out the door before anyone could catch her and ran towards the ocean.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Carlisle snapped as he took a look at Esme's hand. "Her hair just turned into fire and then ice shot from her hands!"

"Her powers. She normally has a very good control of it but if she's feeling some intense emotions it hits her really hard. She can control fire and ice. She usually gets quite tired after using her powers which is why Carmen is already out following her. It seems when she gets into her tired faze she only allows Carmen to talk to her." The others looked up to see that Carmen had indeed left and followed Grace out. "She should be back soon. It does tend to take longer when its someone she loves who gets hurt so I have a feeling since it was your mate and her mother she will be even more distraught."

"Should I go and try and talk to her?" Esme mumbled pulling her hand from Carlisle's grasp. Eleazar nodded silently and she shot out the door to follow Carmen and Grace.


	4. Chapter 4: The feeling of regret

_quick A/N:_

_the cliff she is standing on is called Clover Point. Its usually quite crowded but in the middle of winter there is normally like 2/3 people there at night at most. Also, i wrote this instead of doing homework and honestly low key wanna start and maybe post the next one too but idk_

* * *

Esmes POV

It wasn't long before I had finally caught up to Grace, I followed her sobs to the base of a tree where she was curled up, knees pulled up to her chest trying to push Carmen away from her.

"No! I can't go back Carmen! I hurt her!" Carmen was trying to talk Grace down as I could see her hair starting to flame up again.

"I'm fine. You did not mean it. Grace please. Please listen to Carmen and I." My voice snapped her out of her reverie making her head snap up as her red locks calmed down and laid over her shoulders blocking her face from my view. "Grace I'm fine."  
"Mom…" I could see in her face, the battle going on in her head. Trying to decide what to do and if she can trust herself. I didn't give her the chance to decide as I stepped forward and pulled her into my arms running my hand through her hair.

"You're going to be okay."

"Mom… I hurt you… why would you… how could… I'm just like him…"  
"No! You are nothing like him. You did not mean to hurt me. You did not choose to harm the people you love. We will work together" I glanced at Carmen, a small glance towards me showed me she understood. "All of us to get your powers under control. I swear."

She nodded against my neck and took a deep breath. Carmen sat beside her on the other side and together we held her until she managed to stop shaking.

"No one hates me right?" She asked quietly looking between us.

"No. They're all worried about you love." Carmen responded kissing her nose which made her giggle. A small twang hit my gut making me clutch my stomach. Carmen gave me a sideways glance with worry in her eyes. I shook my head all of a sudden not wanting anything to do with Carmen. Grace laid her head on Carmens shoulder closing her eyes.

"Mama… can we go home now?" Carmen nodded kissing her head. The twinge hit harder after hearing the word mama come out of her mouth. The name she used to call me when I was holding her at night as she cried into me out of fear of her father. It was jealousy. I didn't feel jealous yet sitting here watching her cuddled up to Carmen made me feel so angry.

We decided to head back but watching Grace clutching to Carmens arm as they walked a few feet in front of me made me realize that this was my fault. If I had stayed and protected her she wouldn't have to be here and I wouldn't have lost her to Carmen.

That moment I knew what I needed to do. I slowed my walking until I was far enough away from them I could turn and run. I didn't know where I was going but I ran. I wasn't going to ruin what she had with Carmen because im a little jealous. I knew I couldn't make a full decision or Alice would tell Carlisle and he would come after me.

I knew I had to go. If I had failed my son and my step daughter what made me think I got to play mom with the others? Clearly I wasn't meant to be a mom. I could feel the venom pooling in my eyes that would never fall and stopped mid track. I picked up a branch and chucked it down the cliff face.

I didn't realize how far I had gone until I looked down and saw the edge of the ocean and could see Seattle's lights on the other side of the water. I would start there. Find a place in Seattle to lay low until I figured out exactly what I needed to do.

* * *

Bellas POV

Kate hadn't stopped pacing since Esme had left the house. When Emmett had grabbed her wrist to get her to stop she zapped him from fear. Rosalie growled glaring at her as she ran over to Emmett and helped him up.

"Kate. Why don't we go outside?" I went to grab her wrist but was held back by Edward. I sighed and opened my mind up to him to let him see the memories from when Kate and I first meet and she couldn't zap me. He sighed and relented letting me go and I grabbed her. I could feel the pulse of energy coming from her wrist and rolled my eyes as I walked out the door dragging her with me.

"I hate that I can't zap you…" I heard her mutter as I stopped and turned to look at her.

"Kate. I need you to calm down. I don't think you even noticed zapping Emmett but what if that had been Ness? Would you have wanted to zap her? Grace will be fine. Esme and Carmen are out there with her. She's not alone." She nodded and we both turned as we heard the rustling of trees from a couple feet away.

Grace stepped out from behind the tree and bolted straight into Kates arms who held her close. Carmen came out behind her smiling. I frowned and craned my neck looking behind her for Esme but couldn't find her.

"Where did Esme go?" Carmen frowned and looked behind her.

"I don't know? She was right behind us a minute ago?" Carlisle came flying out the door, Jasper, Alice and Edward in tow.

"Tell them Alice!" Alice looked down at her feet and back up.

"Esme ran off into the woods because she felt like she failed you and now I cant see her future anymore and I am trying really hard and Carl-" Jasper cut her off with a small cough so her rambling would end.  
"Wait… where is she?" I could feel Edward tense as his arm wrapped around my waist. I looked up at him and noticed the pained expression as he was seeing what Alice had. "Alice. Where is Esme? Where is our mother?" Alice sighed and leant into Jaspers side.

"She ran off but wont make a decision. The last one I saw her make was to jump in the ocean and go to Seattle.

* * *

Grace POV

I felt my heart plummet. I thought back to the conversation with her and Carmen and my hand flew to my mouth as I realized what she had seen. My reliance on Carmen when I'm upset. Carmen moved closer to me as if she could read my mind and I stepped backwards and around Kate to the other side. I glanced around at the group talking and mistakenly made eye contact with Edward who turned and gave me a look that could kill.

"If you run off again because you think you did this I will personally hunt you down and tie you to the porch until we get Esme back." Everyone looked at Edward then at me as I stepped back behind Bella but before I could get very far Kate had a grip on my waist.

"Love stop. You can't run away from everything. Emotions suck. I get it. But running away only makes it worse. We will find Esme in Seattle and you two will sit and talk about this okay?" I nodded and turned into Kate suddenly feeling the after effect of my powers hitting me, I began to sway which caused two reactions, complete panic in the Cullens and eye rolling from the Denali's.

My feet suddenly left the ground as I fell into an almost unconscious state. I could hear the talking around me and heard Carmen explain what was happening and that Kate knew how to take care of it. The wind around my face meant we were going up to our room and before I allowed myself to slip farther I felt the love of my life lay beside me in our bed pulling the blankets up.


	5. Chapter 5: Moms back

_AN: Italics in Alices POV is visions she's having unless otherwise noted. _

_Flashbacks will be more between Kate, Esme and Grace._

* * *

Alices POV

_I jumped down into the water and swam off. I found a part of the beach that was empty which wasn't too hard and got out of the water. I was going to have to buy some new clothes to get out of these cold ones. I stopped at a target and grabbed a new outfit and some sunglasses and hat. I looked in the mirror and barely recognized myself in the track pants and over sized hoodie. With the sunglasses and toque there was no way anyone would know who I was…_

I gasped as I felt myself get pulled out of my vision. I whipped my head around and saw Jasper sitting on the bed beside me with a worried expression.

"She's in Seattle. I need to find Carlisle." I barely got the words out as my father figure was in my room sitting across the bed from me. "She's in Seattle. She's wearing baggy clothes so we don't recognize her. I'll keep an eye on her and text if she changes her mind. Go. Take Grace, Bella and Rose."

"Okay thanks Al." He bolted out of the room and grabbed the three girls and they ran off. I looked up at Jasper who was staring at me curiously. I crawled over to him and buried my head into his neck closing my eyes.

"Al… don't worry… Carlisle will find her."

* * *

Esme's POV

I didn't even notice her in the crowds. It just sort of happened. I was walking down the street one second then 2 arms wrapped around my waist.

"Mama… please don't leave me again…" I shook my head and pulled myself out of her arms. I took a couple more steps and felt the familiar hug of Rosalie burrowing her head into my shoulder.  
"Mom please come home…" I sighed looking down at the blonde curls that didn't move.

"This isn't fair… why am I being ganged up on?" Carlisle and Bella stepped forward and Grace moved so she was behind me holding on to me tight.

"Love why did you leave? Why did you run?" I shook my head trying to pry myself out of their arms. I couldn't tell them the truth. I couldn't tell them that I left because I was jealous. That I felt like I wasn't a good mother. I looked around and saw that only Grace was left standing in front of me.

"Mom… you were the first person to show me unconditional love… the first person to show me that I deserved love and you made that clear. Please don't leave me again… Ill open up more… I want to come home and live with you and Carlisle. I need my mom back."

I looked down at the girl who looked so much like her father yet had such caring loving eyes. I sighed and pulled her into my arms. I glanced up as I heard Carlisle walk towards me with two of my other three daughters.

"Esme please come home. Our house is falling apart without the matriarch. The kids need their mom. I need you. I also need you to help me keep the house clean." I smiled then grimaced slightly thinking about the mess Emmett had made in my house which pulled a giggle out of Bella. I looked over at her.

She was coming out of her shell more and more. We seemed to connect with each other better than any of my children. She came in needing a mother.

I nodded at them and was immediately pulled into a hug by three of my four daughters. People were coming out and waking for the day. I could see the confused looks on peoples faces then realized it was because I looked my age instead of a mother. Carlisle grabbed my hand and he lead us back to the car he had driven here. We climbed in, all three girls squished in the back.

* * *

Carlisles POV

The ride back was quiet. It was a little awkward, she was here but she wasn't herself. Esme kept glancing back at the girls and ducked her head if one of them looked up at her. As I pulled up to the house after a long 5 hour drive, Esme quickly got out and jumped up to her art rooms deck and closed herself away.

"What's wrong with her…?" I could hear the pain in Grace's voice as she looked up at me. I sighed and took her hand and led her up to my office. "Carlisle… why isn't she talking?"  
I sat down on the couch in my office and Grace quickly followed sitting beside me albeit a little farther away than expected.

"Grace. Your mom. Esme is dealing with a lot of emotions from finding you. Seeing you again probably brought up some painful memories. This is not your fault though. None of it. You need to understand this." She nodded and brought her knees up to her chest. I could hear Esme moving down the stairs from her art room in the attic and towards the door.

The door creaked open as she stepped in quietly. Grace didn't even give her a chance to speak before she was in her mothers arms.  
"Mama…" I could see her eyes light up slightly at the name as she glanced down at the brunette in her arms. Her arms wrapped around her and she cradled he back of her head.

I took a step towards her and held one hand out. She took it and smiled gently.

"I'm sorry I ran off you guys. I just…" I shook my head basically telling her that it was alright and she didn't have to explain herself just yet. "I do Carlisle. I felt like I wasn't a good parent and I didn't feel like I deserved to be anyone's mom because I couldn't keep my son alive" The pain in her eyes shone through as the venom that would never fall pooled "I couldn't keep you safe Grace. So I thought why should I get to be mom to the others. But when you guys came and found me it made me realize that maybe I was wrong."

* * *

Graces POV

I looked up at my mom in shock. She felt like she shouldn't be a parent?  
"Mom. You are the best parent I've ever had. The only parent I have ever felt safe around enough to be open with. I love you so much mom… I meant it when I said I wanted to move in but I don't know how that's going to work because I cant leave Kate…" I looked over at Carlisle who looked like he was planning something.

"Dad, we're going to have to move if you do that." I whipped my head around to see Edward had come in. Sometimes I could be the most unobservant vampire ever. I could hear Edward chuckle at that which caused me to stick my tongue out to which he stuck his back out. I could sense my mom laughing against me.

"You two are just like children honestly. You would think you two are 12 and not a century old." I grinned at my moms response and stepped back looking at her.

"Well I mean Im only technically 16 so you aren't that wrong." I whipped my head around as Carlisle made a choking noise.

"Someone changed you at 16?" I nodded not fully understanding what was wrong with that seeing as I had never killed anyone before except Charles. My thoughts turned to him accidentally and I could feel the dread fill me and my hands formed the ice picks. Before I could do anything else however Esme stepped forward and put her hand on my arm to calm me down. Her arm and her soft words quickly calmed me down as I looked up into her eyes.

* * *

Edwards POV

I could her hear thoughts turning to Charles before I noticed the ice picks forming. Before anything could happen Esme had stepped forward and placed a hand on Graces arm murmuring to her.

_How is she doing this? If anyone touches me they should get hurt_

"I think it's because her presence is super calming for you and you've calmed down quickly." I stole a glance at a shocked Grace and chuckled when she opened and closer her mouth like a fish.

"Edward! You know better than to answer someones unasked questions." Esme shot me a look trying to chastise me. I grinned sheepishly and looked at Grace.

"Sorry kid." I winked at her and she stuck her tongue out at me which pulled a soft chuckle from Carlisle.

_You're annoying Eddie_

I stuck my tongue back out at her. Mom just rolled her eyes at how childish we were being.

"Honest. Children." We both grinned at her making her laugh and rub a hand on Graces arm. "Who are lucky I love them so much."


	6. Chapter 6: Missing mates

_AN: there has been some stuff happening in my life and it looks like I may not be in school right anymore by choice however I will hopefully still get to write while I'm working full time. Also, as always. _

_Please review and leave some critic's! I'm aware of one mistake in the last chapter that will hopefully be fixed soon._

* * *

Kates POV

It had been two weeks since I had seen my mate. She ran off to the Cullen's and didn't come back. I have to admit that I had been kind of grumpy and I was probably annoying my coven mates, but it seemed like she was avoiding me. I had called her and texted her and she wasn't answering me.

"Kate calm down. She's not purposely trying to ignore you. She's just found her mom. Grace is just getting to know her new family." Tanya said trying to calm me down. I just growled and shocked her as she grabbed my arm.

"Kate! Do not shock your sister!" Carmen reprimanded me. I growled in her direction as I took a step out the door. "Growl one more time Katirina!"

I sighed and ran out the door and towards the little cabin Grace and I stay in when we need some time to ourselves. I run inside and lock the door behind me. I fall into the bed and bury myself into the blankets and pillows smelling in my mates' scent.

* * *

_I swept Grace off her feet and carried her over to our bed. Her sweet giggling made my smile widen._

"_Babe. It's not like we just got married or anything. I have two working legs." She reminded me with a slight smirk. I tapped her nose and sat her down and sat in front of her._

"_I'm aware my love however I love having you in my arms." I smiled as my eyes trailed down her face to the small bite mark on her arm. The only mark left from her past. The only mark showing what her father was capable._

_It had only been 2 weeks since we found each other. She stumbled into my arms as Jane hit her with her gift. I managed to pull her, so she was out of Janes ability. She looked up at me with her bright red eyes. She looked terrified._

_Looking down at her mate who seemed to be off in her own thoughts as she laid down on the bed. I lay beside her and pulled the smaller raven-haired girl in my arms. Her eyes now a deep amber colour as she slowly adjusted to our diet. She had taken it with stride of course. Just like getting herself comfortable with the whole family._

_She buried her head into my neck as her arm draped over my waist fitting perfectly into my arms._

* * *

I heard my family members as they knocked on the door trying to get me to talk. They knew not to just walk in without me giving permission, so I just buried myself farther and ignored them. If my mate didn't want me around, then I'll just hide away.

I pulled out my phone and called Grace again. I heard it ring 4 times then the god-awful sound of her answering machine.

"Hello, you've reached the phone of Grace Denali. If it's an emergency, try my mate Kate. I'm probably with her. If you do want to leave a message, please leave me your phone number and name and I'll return as soon as I can."

I groan pulling her pillow to me more and smell her scent deeply. My heart sunk a little as I heard my loves voice in her last voice mail, she had left me. My head burying into her pillow more hiding in my bed.

* * *

Tanyas POV

I decided that this was it. We were getting Grace back. I sighed and walked into the garage of our house to find my car. I climbed in and drove quickly down to the Cullen's. The highway was shockingly empty at this time of day, so it only took around 30 minutes.

"This isn't it. She can't possibly like that."

"Grace, I think Kate would want that one."

"No. It needs to be perfect Alice."

I knocked on the door as it seemed that Alice, Esme and Grace were too caught up in their conversation to notice I was even there. I walked into the house after getting no response.

"Grace Denali!" I screamed causing the young girl to jump up eyes wide staring at me. "Get your butt back to your cabin and get my sister out of her rut." I said in my coven leader voice which normally could get my sisters and Grace to do what I asked.

"Tanya! What do you mean out of her rut? Why haven't you just called me? It's only been a couple of days." I shook my head sighing closing my eyes and taking a deep breath.

"No Grace. It has been 2 weeks and Tanya has locked herself up in your cabin again. Plus, Carmen is furious that you haven't been home to help with chores or gone to school."

Grace at least had the decency to look sheepish as she took in what I had said. Her murmuring response and a glance at Alice made both raven haired girls slouch off to get Graces stuff.

"Mom is going to kill us when she finds out we missed school Al. But I should get home so my mate stops bothering her sisters but when it gets here call me and I'll come. DON'T let anyone else see it through. Even mom!" They came out Alice nodding and humming an agreement as Grace walked out the door and to the car. "Well Tanya? Are you driving me home or not?"

I rolled my eyes and climbed into the car beside her. I pulled out of the driveway and set back on the highway before I turned to the small girl.

"What are you hiding from your mother and everyone else?" I asked raising an eyebrow at the girl who just smirked and shook her head making the motion of zipping her lips up, locking it and throwing the key away.

* * *

Graces POV

The rest of the car ride home was silent as we weaved in out of cars in traffic. I knew that I had messed up big time as Tanya pulled into the garage and the door into the house flew open revealing an angry looking Carmen. I flinched back in the seat knowing I was in for it.

"GRACE ESME DENALI. You better get your butt out of that car and into this house this instant!" Carmen really had taken the parental role a lot seeing as I was so young and technically still needed an adult as I was only 16.

I crawled out of the car and sulked my way up to her in the doorway. She sighed shaking her head and just pointed towards the little cabin down the driveway. I nodded and took off full speed and stopped just short of the door. I could hear the nearly silent sobs of my girlfriend and my unbeating heart broke.

I had caused her to cry. I had caused her pain. I showed the door open a little to violently and sprinted into our bedroom and pulled the blond into my arms. She sniffled a little and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"I'm sorry Kate… I didn't realize how long it had been… I didn't realize my phone had died… I didn't realize it… please forgive me." I muttered into her neck which pulled a small giggle from her.

"No. I'm sorry. I'm overreacting. It's not like we haven't been apart this long before I just… I'm not sure…" I smiled and pushed some hair out of her face.

"It's understandable love. I got caught up with mama and Ali and I'm sorry." She smiled and pulled me into her lap. I cuddled down into her lap and sighed contently. "I could stay right here forever."

"Me too love however I'm pretty sure Carmen has some stuff for you to do and is pretty upset you've been skipping school." I pouted crossing my arms huffing.

"Why do I get in trouble for skipping school, but she doesn't get any of you in trouble?" She only laughed at me making me stick my tongue out at her.

"Because love. Technically I'm 25 and you're only 16." She grimaced looking down at me. Her eyes showing off her playful tone.

"Maybe I shouldn't be dating such a grandma. Next time we move I call being 20." She only shook her head smiling and we slipped off the bed and walked towards the main house hand in hand. I sighed as we got closer and Carmen opened the front door. I automatically shied behind Kate in fear.

I had never seen Carmen that angry before and in my past people that angry hit or screamed at you. As we got closer to the door my fear must have been all over my face because Carmen's face softened as she saw me flinch closer into Kate who just wrapped an arm around me looking confused down at me. I looked up as Carmen's face showed her realization.

"Oh Grace. Hunny." Her Spanish voice soothing as she pulled me into her arms and smoothed out my hair. "I'm sorry. I didn't even think. I'm not angry with you. I just wish you had called. I realize you were with your mother, but I wouldn't have minded a call." I nodded and pulled back looking up at her.

"I'm sorry mom. I should have called. All of you." She just nodded as her eyes widened then shrunk as she took a look at the colour of my eyes.

"Alright. You two. Off to go hunt. Your eyes are far too black and you both have school tomorrow." We nodded and ran off into the forest behind the house to hunt so we could lay down a bit before going back to classes tomorrow.

"Kate. I'm not sure if I'm really ready for university…" I murmured as I watched her finish off her deer. She looked up at me and I wiped the blood of her mouth. "I was thinking since I've missed 2 weeks and we've only been in for 3 weeks maybe I could move to high school? Or just drop out…"

She tilted her head at me eyebrows pulled together.

I just shook my head waved it off and ran towards my next prey.

"Don't worry about. Never mind ignore me." I smiled up at her softly before diving in and catching the doe in my arms.

* * *

Carlisles POV

I pulled into my driveway as Tanya sped out of it. I raised an eyebrow as I saw Alice standing sheepishly beside Esme who had her hands on her hips. I put my car into park and got out grabbing my briefcase.

"What's wrong love?" I asked kissing my wife's temple and looked down at our youngest daughter. "What has the little pixie done this time?"

"Your little pixie has been skipping school with Grace for the last 2 weeks." I raised an eyebrow down at Alice. "Carmen called and after hearing Tanya getting Grace into trouble, I figured we should wait until you get home."

Esme smiled softly and walked into the house leaving me and Alice outside confused.

"Mom! Stop! You are to a good parent!" I heard Edward call from upstairs causing me to flinch as I realized why she had waited for me to get home. Alice sighed as I followed her inside to the living room.

"I really messed up didn't I dad?" She asked me, staring at the floor. I shook my head putting a hand on her shoulder using my other hand to take her chin and look up at me.

"No Alice. But you better find a way to make this up to her. You and Grace." She nodded with a small sad look on her face. "Go upstairs and make sure all of your homework is done and you have caught up in all your notes. You will also be on garage duty for the next month. Keep it clean in there." She sighed and nodded and slowly went up to her room to do her work.

I walked into the garden to find Esme who was sitting on the bench in the centre of the roses. Her head down and her shoulders hunched over. This was not my wife. My beautiful cheerful wife. I didn't know what to do so I just sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders pulling her close to me.

"It will get better love."


	7. Chapter 7: Sister debacle

_AN: Please please please review guys. I want to know if you want me to continue. _

* * *

Graces POV

I slowly gathered my things from my desk and slipped out of the class side by side with Alice. We had decided to stick together and head back to the Cullen's house so we could finish the scrapbook for mom.

Alice slid into her car and I slid into the passenger seat. I flicked through her phone to choose a song when a text from Carlisle came in.

Papa Bear: Hey Al. Mom is at home early so you're going to have to sneak in through the kitchen.

"Ma's home early. We're going to have to sneak in through the kitchen." Alice frowns then looks at the phone in my hand and nods humming in agreement.

She slowly pulled into the driveway and made their way into the garage. Alice parked her car in between Edwards Volvo and Emmett's Jeep where Rose was working. As I pulled my bag from the back seat and grabbed the scrapbook Rose rolled her eyes.

I had a small inkling Rose didn't like me to much. I brushed past her and headed for the backdoor. Alice had grabbed the pictures and letters. I turned to see what was taking her so long and I saw her and Rose in a staring match.

"No! Rosalie!" She had moved to grab the blonde to late as Rose whipped around, grabbed the scrapbook from my hands and ran through to the kitchen and dropped it into the garbage. I screamed and ran after her and pulled her backwards roughly as mom and Carlisle came into the kitchen.

"I'm going to kill you Rosalie!" I screamed as she grabbed me by the throat and threw me back into the kitchen table.

Carlisle streaked into the room and grabbed Rose by the arm.

"Hunt. Now Rosalie. We do NOT throw family across the room." Rosalie turned and glared him down.

"Grace is not my family." She growled and bolted out the backdoor.

I sat up rubbing my throat as mom flew towards me. She grabbed my shoulder with one hand and cupped my cheek with her other hand. Her eyes asking all the questions I knew she wanted to ask.

"Mom. I'm fine." She sighed and stood up helping me stand. I ran over to the garbage can and slowly picked the scrapbook up from the pile of food. I opened it and saw all the pictures and pages had been soaked with sauces.

"No…" I heard Alice say from beside me. "Why would she do that?" I shook my head and tossed the book onto the counter and stormed upstairs and locked myself in the shower.

* * *

Esme's POV

I watched as Grace flew up the stairs and Alice flew outside. I stole a glance at Carlisle who was staring off into the forest where Rose had run. I could hear sobs coming from Alice's room where Grace had locked herself away.

"What just happened?" I asked startling Carlisle who turned to look at me. He blinked a few times before stepping over to the counter and looked down at the book.

"Rose… she threw the scrapbook that Alice, Grace and Bella had been making for you. It was supposed to be a surprise to cheer you up."

I stepped forward and looked down at the book. I gasped and flipped through the pages that had been ruined. It was filled with pages of pictures and letters from the girls from the past years. I even saw some pictures of Grace as she lived. I suddenly understood why Grace and Alice were so upset.

What couldn't be explained was why Rosalie had done what she did. What did she mean Grace wasn't part of her family? I glanced over at Carlisle who seemed to be wondering the same thing.

"I should talk to Grace… no Alice… no Rose." I decided and Carlisle nodded, and I bolted after Rosalie into the forest.

I followed her scent to a clearing she goes to when she needs space. I took a step into the clearing causing Rosalie to look up at me. She sighed and sat down in the grass and held her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry mom… I just… I was so angry… Bella fits in so well and we were a perfect family then Grace came in and… I'm honestly not to sur why I got so angry. I know what Grace means to you and she upset you and I became so angry at her."

I sighed and sat beside Rose.

"What you did was not okay, and you are going to have to make it up to your sisters. All three of them." She nodded in understanding. "but right now, we need to talk. Rose. Our family is going to grow. We can't change that. I know you don't do well with change, but I need to ask you to try. For me? Please princess?" She looked up at me biting her lip then nodded looking down at her lap where she had her hands clasped together and her fingers were fiddling.

"Alright mom… I'll try for you." I smiled softly and pulled into her arm kissing her forehead.

We sat together for a few minutes and silently decided to stand and head home together. Our arms linked together. Rose and I always shared a special bond because of our violent pasts. She trusts few and those she does it takes a while to get there. She trusted me quickly which filled me with pride.

As we got closer to the house, we started hearing the fighting. I could hear… Alice and Grace screaming at each other. Odd. Those two had been inseparable for the past 2 months. I pushed the back door open and we headed into the living room where they were standing face to face. I could see the steam start to form around Graces head.

"YOU PROMISED. WHY CAN YOU NOT KEEP THAT DAMN MOUTH SHUT?" Grace spat at Alice who just stepped up to the ever so slightly taller girl.

"I didn't say anything!" She stated through gritted teeth. I cleared my throat to get the girls attention and they both turned to look at me. Graces face fell as she saw Rose and she stepped back.

"What did I say? I told everyone it would be bad if I told you who I was. All its caused is chaos." She muttered gripping at a box in her hands. "Kate found out about the engagement plan, Rose hates me and ruined the surprise to make mom feel better and Alice is a blabber mouth."

Alice stomped her foot like a child.

"I didn't tell anyone Grace! I swear! I would never betray you like that!" Grace looked up at the pixie and studied her face. Looking for any lies as Alice bared herself to her sister. The blond sighed and looked back down at the ground.

"I'm sorry Ali… I shouldn't have blamed you… I'm not sure how but ill figure it out… if my partner in crime promises to help…?" She stole a glance up at Alice who just stared at her then nodded grinning.

I smiled as the two girls hugged and fell back into their normal routines of plotting schemes.

"I'm glad you two talked it out." They looked up at me with big smiles, but their faces slowly fell as they realized what had happened. "I saw girls… it was amazing… maybe the 4 of us" I pointed to my three daughters "and Bella could remake it together."

Roses face lit up and nodded enthusiastically along with her two basically twin sisters who were bouncing on their toes.

"A mother daughter project! Wait and Ness! All 6 of us!" Alice squealed and I nodded smiling.

We sat together after calling Bella and Ness and telling them to come home.

* * *

Graces POV

I smiled looking at all the girls sitting around me talking about the plans. I quickly excused myself with the excuse of needing to call Kate and slowly made my way outside. I heard the Cullen girls in the living room laughing and talking.

I was glad mom had her family. Don't get me wrong. But Rose was right. I wasn't part of their family. I was best friends with Alice. Yes. I was my mother's stepdaughter but that was it. I wasn't a Cullen. I was barely a Denali. I was an Evenson. I was and always will be my father's daughter.

It made sense that I couldn't go to university. Dad was right. I am stupid. I couldn't attend university. Kate had tried to tell me otherwise, but my grades were showing and the need to break down before and after every exam. Vampires didn't have anxiety and yet I did. I was the lamest excuse of a vampire ever.

Ah Kate… I don't know how she found out, but she sounded upset or angry when she mentioned that she heard about the engagement. Upset by what though? By losing the surprise or that I was going to ask. Probably the latter.

I didn't need to sit around and wallow in self-pity though. I took a deep albeit shaky, unneeded breath and stood from the bench I had drifted towards. I shoved my hands deep into my pockets. I was snapped out of my reverie when footsteps were headed towards me.

I turned around and saw mom walking towards me. I forced a smile into my face as she approached me.

"Hey mom… sorry I got caught up on the phone and then in my thoughts." She smiled softly and sat on the bench grabbing my shoulder forcing me to sit next to her.

"Something else is going on hunny." She took my hand in hers. "I can tell. Are you still upset about what Rose said? Or is something else bothering you?"

I shrugged my shoulders and dropped my gaze to my lap. She shook her head and took my chin under her finger and pulled my head up to look at her. I glanced anywhere beside her eyes until finally I couldn't look anywhere else and made eye contact with her.

"I'm sorry mom. I don't want to bring you down. Or anyone else." She just shook her head but stayed quiet waiting for me to continue. "I just… I guess Rosalie's comment made me think. She's right… I'm not a Cullen. I'm not a Denali. I'm an Evenson. No matter who I call mom or dad or sister I'm still his daughter. I still have to hear his voice in my head telling me I'm not good enough or smart enough. That nobody wants me around because I'm worthless."

She frowned at that and cupped my cheeks in her hands.

"You stop that right now young lady. You are Grace Cullen-Denali. I do not want to hear you call yourself worthless ever again. Your father was a horrible man who had no right to say any of things to you. Maybe you aren't ready for university yet but that's okay. You are young. You can take your time. Me and your sisters want you around. Your brothers and other parents to.

Carmen and Eleazar. Carlisle and I. We are all here for you to talk to. Please talk to us. I know it's hard and you need time, but I need you to understand that no matter what your father ever said I loved you. I LOVE you. With all my heart. You are worth everything."

I could feel the tears that would never fall well up in my eyes and I bit my lip looking at Esme. I nodded and leaned into her embrace as she wrapped her arms around me. I sobbed silently into her for a few minutes then managed to sit up and look at her.

"Thank you, mama, that's exactly what I needed to hear." She smiled and kissed my head as Carlisle stepped out of the forest and sat beside us.

I turned to him and wrapped my arms around his neck quickly. He caught me and hugged me back tightly.

"What is this for darling?" He murmured against my ear. I grinned and kissed his cheek pulling back.

"For being my dad."


	8. Chapter 8: movie night

_sorry for the shorter chapter guys. this chapter is all fluff with nothing major happening that was really important to the plot except a relationship that forges. please review and let me know what you think_

* * *

Grace's POV

I released Carlisle from my grip and turned to mom smiling widely.

"Back to girls night ma?" I asked innocently.

"Of course! We decided to invite the Denali's to come as well. They should be here any minute." I grinned and wrapped my arms around her neck then skipped back inside. I plopped down next to Alice who smiled softly with a questioning look in her eyes. I shook my head and glanced around at my sisters.

"I'm fine guys. Mom helped. It's going to take time but I'm fine." I had arms around me quickly but to my shock I turned my head to see Rosalie right beside me. She pulled back a little with a small scared smile.

"I'm sorry Grace. I shouldn't have done what I did. I hope you can forgive me." I just smiled and pulled her back into a hug.

"Of course, Rose." I muttered into her hair. She knew it wouldn't be immediately but eventually we could be close.

We all turned as we heard car tires driving down the gravel driveway. We all got up and ran outside as the car pulled up and the two sisters and Carmen stepped out. I squealed and bolted into my love's arms. She just laughed and held me close as I bounced in her arms.

I could see Tanya roll her eyes at us and head inside following my sisters. Carmen however pulled me out of Kates arms and pulled me in for a hug. I nuzzled my head into her hair taking a deep breath.

"Don't ever think you are worthless. You belong with us. The Denali's and the Cullen's. Do you understand miel?" I just nodded into her and pulled back. Kate grabbed my hand and I took Carmen's with my other as the three of us followed everyone else inside.

I plopped down on Kates lap as all of us sat around the living room. Alice was sitting cross legged on the loveseat with Bella beside her, her back against the arm and her legs over Alice's lap. Rose had settled on the ground against the couch beside Kate and I. Tanya had curled up into the arm of the couch with Carmen on the other side doing the same thing. Renesmee was curled up into her grandmother's lap who had taken up her place in the armchair.

Family. This is what family was. I watched as everyone tried to decide on a movie to watch. It was between two corny Christmas movies as it was November and we all loved the corniness of them. I was so caught up in my thoughts to notice they were voting until it came down to me as the deciding vote.

"OH. Uh… how about Princess Switch?" I said ending the sentence with more of a question. Bella, Kate, Carmen, Renesmee all groaned as Alice, Rose, Tanya and Esme cheered. I rolled my eyes at the 8 of them.

We all cuddled up after finally choosing the movie. I cuddled down into Kates lap and closed my eyes. I could feel her running her fingers through my hair. I took her free hand and used it to pull that arm around my waist and leaned my head on to her shoulder.

I looked over at Bella who had found her way to the foot of the arm chair and cuddled right into Esme's legs. She leaned her head on our moms knees watching the movie. Settling down Rose and Alice curled up into each other.

* * *

Esme's POV

I smiled looking around at my family and smiled down at the brunette leaning her head on my knees. I watched the others cuddle into each other. I glanced over at Grace who pulled Kates arms around her tighter and leaned her head on her girlfriends shoulder.

Her smile was huge as she glanced around the room then made eye contact with me. I smiled warmly at her and looked back at the tv. I could feel Bellas head settle on my lap next her daughter. Rose blurred to sit by Alice and the two of them curled up together. The 9 of us watched the movie.

As it ended the boys slowly made the way back into the house and to their respective mates. Carlisle pulled Renesmee off my lap and lifted me up and sat down so I was in his lap. I rolled my eyes and curled up as his arms wrapped his arms around my waist and his chin on shoulder.

"How was your girls night? I see the scrapbook was really touched much hmm?" He mused glancing down at the table in the middle of the room that was covered in scrapbooking stuff. I heard a few murmers from the girls around the room.

"We decided to watch a corny Christmas movie instead." Renesmee huffed from Jacobs lap. He chuckled and kissed her head. I rolled my eyes at the boys who just laughed at the youngest Cullen.

She and Jacob got up and ran into the kitchen to get some food for the two of them. We put on another movie, this time a Christmas Prince, in favour of the girls who didn't get it the first time ignoring the groans and complaints from the boys.

I heard a crash and then Ness say a few curse words. I subconsciously scolded her as Carlisle and I walked through the kitchen door to be hit with a super strong scent. The smell of blood hit my nose and instantly my throat burned.

Carlisle whipped me around and started shoving me through the door but not before I saw my granddaughter sitting on the ground holding her bleeding hand.

"Jacob turned to quickly and scared me and I cut my hand!" She cried, I stopped breathing immediately and ran over to my granddaughter as her mother ran in. Carlisle stepped forward and put his hands on our shoulders.

"Girls. Go back to the living room. Don't push yourself." I barely heard him as the young girl buried herself into Bella and I carefully avoiding touching us with her cut hand. I glanced up at my husband who had ran to his office and back down quickly with his bag.

He quickly had Ness on the table in between bella and I and was stitching up her hand. I hadn't noticed it but quickly I realized I couldn't hear any one else left in the house.

"They all left to give ness some space. Grace and jasper left as it was difficult for them with the blood." Edward walked into the kitchen with some bleach and cleaning supplies. I nodded and furrowed my brow.

I couldn't figure out why grace who was almost 100 years old and had never drank human blood couldn't handle it. It made no sense and hurt me that I wasn't taking care of her as Ness had both her parents here.

Edward sighed looking at me.

"Mom. Ness is fine. Go. Grace could probably use some love. Ness is her singer. She has never smelt blood before either." I nodded and jumped off the table and ran out the house following my youngest daughters scent.

I found her leaning against a tree where Kate was rubbing her back.

"Gracey. Its fine. It's okay to be upset but its also okay to not be able to stop your thirst. Youbve never drank human blood and the scent can be tough. I could barely handle it." She looked up at me with venom pooling in her eyes. I sighed walking over to her and pulled her into my arms as she buried her head into my neck.

I kissed her head as Kate took her spare hand and intertwined their fingers.

"you cant compare yourself to any of us love. You've had a very different life than the rest of us." Grace shook her head and slumped against the tree sliding down the side of it to sit.

"That's not it… hearing the crash and the swears… then smelling the blood… I brought me back to him. I didn't feel safe all of a sudden. I had to get out of there before the fire or ice picks came out." I sighed and sat beside her, all of a sudden Rose was on her other side.

"Its okay Grace." She shook her head down at the younger girl who just stared at her. "If im honest I too went back to my past. To Royce and his friends. Its not easy to get over violence but hows this. You, me and mom will work together."

Grace just nodded and wrapped her arms around Rose's neck. I smiled at the two blondes as they held each other. I hated to think that the main way they were bonding was getting over violent pasts and healing together but it made my dead heart swell watching Rose run her hands through Grace's hair muttering nothings into her ear as the smaller girl calmed down.

* * *

Renesmee's POV

I groaned as papa Carlisle stitched my hand up and turned farther into my mother. I hated getting hurt and bleeding. Especially in front of my family. My mom smoothed my hair down as Carlisle finished and set all the gauzes on fire to clean the smell.

"You alright Ness?" My dad asked as he made his way over to me. I nodded looking up at him.

"Is Uncle Jasper alright?" I asked quietly to which my parents laughed softly. "What? I know its harder for him… also why did mama Esme run out so quickly?" My mom bit her lip and glanced at my dad who just nodded.

"Grace was upset about what happened and Esme needed to make sure she was alright." My dad explained. My brow furrowed as I nodded and heard the others coming home.

I bolted out of the kitchen and into Graces arms who just gasped and hugged me tight.

"You alright kiddo? Hows the hand?" I smiled and held it up.

"All clean! Are you okay?" She smiled and glanced at auntie Rose who smiled softly.

"I'm great kid. Shall we go back to the movie while your mom makes you a snack?" She muttered into my hair and I nodded and pulled her on to the couch beside me and buried into her as mama Esme turned the movie back on.

I looked around as my family settled around us and smiled. Perfect ending to an odd night.

Jasper and Alice curled up on the arm chair. Eleazer and Carmen on the loveseat. Bella and Edward at their feet, mom in between dads legs. Rose and Emmett on the ground against the couch underneath me and Grace who had Kate on her other side while Jake buried into me on my other side. Tanya and Garrett laid against the other side of the couch where Esme and Carlisle were cuddled. My family was complete.


	9. Chapter 9: Marry Me darling?

_I really enjoy this chapter and honestly can not wait to write about wedding plans because we all know Alice is going to go over board and bella will try and rein her in._

_As always, please review guys._

* * *

Kates POV

It had been about a month since we had that huge family movie night. Grace had been kind of distance since that day, but she was still there. I pulled myself off my chair and headed into the garage where Grace was with Rosalie.

I smiled seeing them together working on Grace's car. I kissed her cheek and headed towards the door to get in my car.

"Babe? Where are you going?" She asked looking up at me. "I thought we were going out tonight?"

I just smiled and shook my head lightly.

"I'm not feeling well…" The look on her face made me very confused as I grabbed the handle. She looked… disappointed? That can't be right. She hasn't wanted me around for a couple of weeks now.

* * *

Graces POV

When Kate walked through the garage and barely kissed my cheek on her way out I froze.

"Babe? Where are you going?" I asked hoping to hide the disappointment I felt come across from my face. "I thought we were going out tonight?"

I really hoped she hadn't forgotten what today was. It was our 10th anniversary and I had a huge dinner planned where I was going to propose.

"I'm not feeling well…" I knew that my façade must have broken as Rose squeezed my shoulder as my disappointment grew.

She stopped and turned to look at me with her head tilted looking confused.

I stepped forward holding my hand out for her and she stepped back shaking her head.

"Don't play games Grace. You've been avoiding me for two weeks. I don't want to deal with your mind games. Just tell me the truth." I frowned my eyebrows furrowing together as I thought back to the past 2 weeks and I groaned internally realizing what I had done.

"Kate! No! Please! I haven't been meaning to!" I shrunk back a little as Kate just rolled her eyes. My heart breaking a little as Rose stepped up beside me.

"I'm not going to deal with these stupid games Grace. I've already lost my jokes without you."

"Kate. Stop this right now. Grace is not trying to hurt you. Go home. Tell Tanya to get you ready for a very special night and be ready to go by 7." I glanced up at her then to Kate.

Kate just stared at the other blond and nodded slowly blinking clearly confused. I followed her to her car and grabbed her hand.

She tried to pull her hand out of my grasp but I held tighter and turned her around to face me. I rolled up on to my toes and grabbed the back of her neck with my spare hand and pulled her towards me. I kissed her deeply and bit her lip lightly pulling a groan out of her and snaking her arms around my waist.

She pulled back and cupped my cheek smiling softly. She pressed her forehead into mine.

"I'm sorry my love. I'm sorry I've been distant my love. I love you." I grinned at her words and kissed her softly.

"I love you too Kate. I'll talk to you later okay?" She nodded quickly and slid into her car and drove off.

I stared at her car for a while until I felt mom wrap her arms around my neck and kissed my temple.

"This will be a perfect night tonight." I smiled up at her and turned hugging her tight. I wanted to stay there but only got about 15 seconds before Alice grabbed my hand and yanked me into the house.

I rolled my eyes as she dragged me up into the guest room where I was slowly moving my and Kates stuff into. She pulled me into the bathroom and sat me down on the stool in front of the mirror.

"Alice I don't need to get my hair and makeup done for a couple of hours?" I questioned looking up at the little Pixie who just smiled and shook her head.

"Don't fight it love. She will win." I rolled my eyes and closed them allowing the girl to flit around me and make me up. After about 2 hours she had me up and getting changed.

I sighed and slipped myself into the satin dress with a little help from the vampire who had basically become my twin. I felt her tie my bow up behind my back and flattened out the back.

She squealed which shocked me as I heard the bedroom door open and close. I heard steps come up behind me and then felt something cold around my neck as someone clasped a necklace to my neck.

"Open your eyes G!" I heard Alice say and I opened my eyes and quickly caught myself in the mirror and gasped.

I looked down at myself in the mirror and saw what Kate had been saying about me for the past ten years. My hair was up in a half up half down bun with my natural ringlets falling down to just past my shoulder blades. My dress was a light blue satin dress that was cinched to my waist and jutted out to flow down to just past my knees.

My hand flew up to the necklace around my neck and I took it gently in my fingers to see the Cullen crest sitting in my palm. I gasped and turned to look at Carlisle and Esme who were smiling at me lightly.

"But… this is only for people in your coven." That pulled a small chuckle out of Carlisle who wrapped his arm around Esme's shoulders.

"You are part of this coven. This one and the Denalis and since you have the Denali crest on your wrist we figured we could get your neck to go with the infinity symbol from Kate." I grinned and pulled Carlisle into a hug.

I heard Rose call me from the living room and the next think I knew I was sitting in my car driving towards my other house. I pulled up and quickly got out and knocked on the front door smirking lightly.

Eleazer opened the door and rolled his eyes at me. He called up for Kate and smiled at me winking. I rolled my eye.

"You better bring her home by midnight and don't try anything young lady." He scolded me lightly joking at me as I nodded with a serious expression.

"Yes sir. I will!" I laughed then stopped as my breath was caught in my throat as Kate walked down the stairs.

Her blonde hair was up in a ponytail, her normally straight locks curled ever so slightly with two ringlets hanging down by her ears framing her face. She had on a navy blue dress exactly like mine and her Denali crest necklace around her neck. She had on black heels which made her even taller than me.

"Hey babe… maybe you should close your mouth before you catch a fly." I shook my head closing my mouth.

"You look… wow…" I managed to get out before she took my hand and we headed down the stairs of the deck after each of us kissed Carmen's cheeks. I opened her car door for her which she slipped in and buckle herself in. I stole a glance over a my other family who all gave me reassuring smiles giving me a small boost in confidence.

I got into the car and drove down the long driveway and on to the highway. I drove down into downtown Sidney and pulled up into a parking spot in front of the beach. I got out and watched Kate get out frowning.

"Babe. I'm not really wearing something for the beach." I just shook my head and took her hand and lead her towards a restaurant called Sea Glass Waterfront Grill and opened the door. She raised her eyebrows at me as if telling me we don't eat. I just laughed lightly and opened the door to a private room.

The room was covered in roses and candles. She turned to look at me as I lead her into the center of the room where there was a heart made of rose petals and candles. She frowned as I took a knee in front of her. She gasped covering her mouth with her hand.

"Katrina Natasha Denali. I have known I loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you when you saved me from Jane. You took my breath away and still do every time you look at me. I can't get enough of your mouth on mine and your arms wrapped around my waist. I love you so much Kate and I can not imagine the rest of my life without you by my side. Will you marry me?"

I heard the softest of gasps as her hand covered where her heart is. She stared at me venom pooling in her eyes.

* * *

Kates POV

I climbed down the stairs of the house after hearing Grace knock on the door and rolled my eyes at Eleazer as he gave Grace a fatherly talk. I heard Grace talking to him then stop quickly as her breath hitched. I looked down at the love of my life in all her glory.

She had a matching dress to mine but in a light blue. Her blond curls fell in front of her face as her mouth hung open.

"Hey babe… maybe you should close your mouth before you catch a fly." I joked with her as she closed her mouth shaking her head lightly.

"You look… wow…" Was all I got as a response from her. She finally cleared her head enough to grab my hand and lead me down the stairs after we kissed Carmen's cheek. She opened the door for me and turned around to our family who smiled at her softly.

She quickly had us in Sidney and in front of the beach.

"Babe. I'm not really wearing something for the beach." I mused as I looked around the beach. She took my hand and lead me to a restaurant. I raised my eyebrows at her because we all knew we couldn't eat food which just brought out her beautiful laugh that sounded like bells as she opened a door I hadn't noticed as I was to busy staring at her.

I followed her into the room and saw all the roses and candles. She lead me to the center of the heart of petals and candles and got on one knee in front of me.

I gasped covering my mouth with my hand as she started talking.

"Katrina Natasha Denali. I have known I loved you from the minute I laid eyes on you when you saved me from Jane. You took my breath away and still do every time you look at me. I can't get enough of your mouth on mine and your arms wrapped around my waist. I love you so much Kate and I can not imagine the rest of my life without you by my side. Will you marry me?"

I stared at her as she got up slowly holding a ring out which was gold with a small diamond right in the center covered in small rubies circling the diamond. I couldn't believe this.

I had been so caught up in my world in the last 3 weeks that I couldn't see all the signs of this. I didn't realize all the whispers between siblings and cousins. I didn't notice the nights she spent playing with my hand as she whispered nothing into my ears. The kisses that lasted a bit longer than they used to as if she was savouring my kisses.

She cleared her throat lightly which caused me to jump and look at her face.

"Babe… I… why aren't you answering? I get it if you don't… don't want to marry me." I smiled at her softly shaking my head at her rambling.

"Babe. Why would I not want to marry the absolute love of my life?" I took her face in my hands and kissed her deeply. I took her hands in mine and raised my eyebrows.

"Do I have to put the ring on myself or are you going to help?" I asked cheekily which pulled a small chuckle from my love as she shook her head and slipped the ring on my finger.

"Grace. I would never not want to be with you. I want to be by your side forever."

I pulled a ring from the pocket of my dress and opened it getting on one knee. She gasped then covered her heart and laughed slightly. She nodded quickly and I slid the ring on her finger and kissed her lightly again.

"I can't believe we had the same idea tonight. But it makes sense. We are on the same brain lengths." She said softly shaking her head chuckling. I kissed her nose as we sat on the bench which faced the beach outside.

"This does explain one thing though. It explains all the secrets in the past month… but can we promise no more secrets from here on out hm?" I asked running my hand up down her arm playing with her hand in my free hand.

She nodded into the crook of my neck then nuzzled into me kissing my neck pulling a groan out of me.

"Baby… lets go to the cabin…" I could feel her growl underneath me as her arms snaked around my waist. I just nodded and the two of us walked to the car.


	10. Chapter 10: The past is haunting

_AN: This chapter gets really dark and there are mentions of sexual and physical abuse so if you don't want to read it then skip this chaper. I kept it as PG as possible._

_As always, please review and let me know what you think._

* * *

Esme's POV

It was over 3 days before we heard from the newly engaged couple. I was dying on the inside to see how the night went but we all knew better than to interrupt them. The two of them can apparently cause quite a riot and I honestly did not want to think about my daughter like that.

I was sitting on my bed holding my sketch book sitting against my knees as they were propped up. I started sketching the silhouette of my husband as he stared out the window lost in thought. I watched him shift his body weight and glance over at me. He smiled softly seeing the sketchbook out.

I knew what he was thinking. It was rare for me to bring my sketchbook out much anymore. Even with all the time in the world I still rarely got time for it trying to keep up with having 6 vampire children plus the grandchild.

His smile turned into a frown when I didn't reciprocate it. I looked down at the sketchbook, after hearing a tearing sound, where I had accidently let the pencil bore down to hard and it pushed through the remaining pages. I sighed and put the book on my bedside table and leaned back against the headboard of our bed closing my eyes.

"Love… what just happened?" He asked walking towards the bed and sitting beside me.

I peeked through my hair which had fallen in front of my face towards his concerned face. I frowned as he pushed the hair behind my ears and cupped my cheek.

"Nothing's wrong Carlisle. Why would you ask?" I pushed myself to sit up straight crossing my legs underneath me. He glanced towards the notebook with the pencil still sticking out of it. "I just got distracted and must have used too much pressure."

He frowned at me shifting to be sitting face to face with me.

"Esme… love… I may not have Edwards or Jaspers abilities, but I know you. What is going on in that beautiful head of yours hmm?" He smirked as I rolled my eyes at the compliment, he threw in.

I shook my head as my curls fell into my face again. I sighed and turned to grab my clip and clipped my hair back up in an easy twist.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. I was distracted. I know what everyone said but the guilt of leaving Grace to her father… knowing what he had done to her killed me inside.

The love of my life placed his hand on my cheek staring into my eyes as if studying them to see if he could see what is going on through my head. I saw the doctor in him come out as he frowned.

"Love what is bothering you so much?" I looked down at my hands folded in my lap and took a deep breath. I knew I shouldn't be keeping all my emotions pent up inside me, but Carlisle had enough to deal with.

"Nothing loves. I'm just fine. Honest." I kissed his lips chastely then glanced down at the clock. "Carlisle! You have a shift in 10 minutes!" He stole a glance at the clock and groaned inwardly.

"We will talk when I get home Esme. I know something is bothering you." He got up after kissing me softly and headed out to work.

I sat in my bed for about 10 minutes before I heard soft footsteps outside my door. The person took a deep breath and knocked softly. I sniffed the air and noticed it was Bella.

"Come in sweetheart." I answered softly and she pushed the door open enough to squeeze in and closed it behind her. She stood in front of the door before coming over and sitting in front of me on the bed.

"Esme… mom… do you remember when I was human, and you told me I could talk to you about anything? You told me that keeping my emotions pent up is unhealthy and I learned that the hard way when I finally blew up at Alice one day." She glanced over at the sketchbook as she spoke.

I sighed and looked up at her. I knew where this was going.

"Yes Bella. I remember. You screamed at Alice for 20 minutes and threw a book at her." She ducked her head down biting her lip. Quickly her eyes were back on me as she nodded.

"Yes. Mom, what is bothering you so much? You've already ruined one of your sketchbooks… I know you're hurting." She said softly taking my hand in hers. It shocked me when Bella was so forward with me, but it made sense.

Bella had come into our lives needing a mother and she quickly took to me as her mother. I was the first one she would come to if she had an issue or was upset about something. Our relationship had strengthened a lot in the last few years. I felt her thumb running against my knuckles soothing me slightly.

"Mom… please talk to me… or at least Ali or Ed… I know you're closer with those two…" She finished the sentence hesitantly and bit her lip.

"Oh sweetheart. I love all of you equally." I sighed and pushed a piece of hair behind my ear. "I guess… I suppose I'm a little upset about what happened with Grace and her father. I didn't help her. When she was 11, I made her a promise that I would never leave her alone with her father but when I realized I was pregnant I didn't take her with me to keep her safe. I left her with her father who was very angry with me. I knew what would happen to her if I died. Yet, I still jumped…"

I took a breath closing my eyes for a few moments willing the tears back. I felt a shift and suddenly I was being pulled into her arms. She just sat there as I let my daughter comfort me. After a few seconds I heard some footsteps and the next thing I knew I was in Grace's arms. I hadn't even noticed she was home.

"Mom… I don't know how many times I have to tell you, but I never blamed you. You needed to do what you did to save your son and yourself. No one had any idea dad could get so violent." She murmured into my ear.

* * *

-flashback-

_Grace had spent the last week at our home with us. She and Alice had become very close however I feel I needed some time with just her and I. _

"_Grace… could you and I maybe go for a walk?" I asked the blond and immediately lit up when the blond curls bounced, and she was on her feet with my hand in hers pulling me towards the forest._

"_I was going to ask you so I could tell you something anyways." She said, I noticed the nerves in her voice and placed a hand on her lower back as we sat in front of the river. "I want to tell you about how I died… well almost died." _

_I nodded and pushed some hair behind her ear. I took one of her hands and held it silently waiting for her to talk._

"_On my 16__th__ birthday I had gone out with my best friend. It was about 8 at night when I got home which was 2 hours before dad's curfew. I didn't expect him to be home or drunk. I had gotten used to his drinking and knew better than to say anything. But of course, because I'm dumb, I commented about him being home._

"_He quickly started throwing a fit. I knew I couldn't fight him off, so I didn't even bother trying. He beat me pretty hard, but he decided that that wasn't enough this time. His exact words were: You are an adult now and you need to treated that way. I didn't expect it but the next thing I knew he was pulling his belt off- "She broke the sentence with a sob. I pulled her into my arms. _

"_Stop Grace. You don't need to say anymore." She just nodded and held on to my shirt tightly. _

_My head ran a hundred miles a minute as I realized what he had done to her. His own daughter. The little girl he had raised from an infant. It was wrong on so many levels. I had come to accept that to him I was nothing more than a piece of meat to have his way with, but I never expected him to ever do that to his daughter._

_Grace took a deep shaky breath and looked up at me from her position in my arms._

"_I was found by a vampire. He decided since I was dying anyways, he would just finish me off. He didn't get to before Derek killed him on the spot. Derek took me to his home and helped me get through the first few years until I wanted to venture out on my own. I was angry and upset that not only had he caused your death but then he did that to me. I stalked him for a couple of months then had my way with him. It was not a short death. Even then I didn't taste his blood. It reeked of alcohol."_

_I cupped her cheek and kissed her forehead. I knew she didn't feel bad about what she did. She didn't need me to tell her it was alright. She just needed to tell someone. To tell someone who loved her no matter what. _

_-end flashback-_

* * *

I pulled Grace into my arms and we held each other for a while. The next thing I knew Carlisle was pulling into the driveway. Grace smiled at me and took my hand leading me downstairs.

* * *

Graces POV

I held moms' hand tight as Carlisle pulled into the garage and walked inside. I let go of her hand after a gentle squeeze and sat on the couch. Mom glanced at me with a small smile then melted into Carlisles arms. He whispered something into her ear, and she answered with a small nod. I watched them climb the stairs.

Kate pulled me into her arms and on to her lap. She kissed my temple as Bella sat opposite us on the couch, Alice at her feet.

"Moms going to be okay, isn't she?" Alice asked quietly staring at the stairs where her parents had just disappeared. "I can't seem to see much right now." I frowned and looked down at her. She shook her head quickly. "Jakes just been around a lot. He usually blocks my visions." She explained calming me down quickly.

I glanced up at the ceiling in the general direction of the adult's room with a small smile.

"Yes Ali. She will be okay because she has us. We are all going to be okay." I said with some confidence. I genuinely felt that way until Kates phone beeped. She took a look at it and her face fell instantly.

"We need to get home. Now Grace." I frowned at her.

"What happened Kate?" She looked up at me eyes wide.

"Derek's looking for you. He wants revenge." My heart sunk. The last time I had seen Derek he was chasing after me as I fled his cabin. He had pulled me back into his life. He had a wife. He decided that he was going to have some fun with me. I screamed at him as his hands wandered but he didn't stop. The next thing I remembered was the flames surrounding his wife. He snarled at me.

I had gotten out of the house so quickly and was in Kates arms, but I knew he was pissed.

He was going to kill me for killing his mate.


	11. Chapter 11: Family wins

_I'm actually pretty happy with this chapter tbh. There is some drama but it's not to much. Please review guys._

* * *

Kates POV

As Grace and I walked into the Cullen house I could hear Esme crying softly into someone's arms and seeing as we passed Carlisle, I knew it wasn't him. I heard Bella's soft muttering and then Grace ran off upstairs to comfort her mom.

I sat down on the couch next to Rosalie. I stole a glance at her as she ran her hands down her face.

"Rose… she'll be fine." I said as honest as I could. That's when Bella came down the stairs and bit her lip.

"It is about Grace isn't it Bells?" Rose muttered. The brunette nodded her head softly causing the blonde next to me groan as her head fell into her hands. "I'm trying… I love her but I hate seeing Esme hurt so much."

She glanced at me.

"I'm sorry Kate. I need to get out of here." I nodded as she ran off into the woods to clear her head. She obviously still struggled to not get mad at Grace when Esme was upset.

Bella sat on the other side of the couch leaning her head back. I tilted my head studying the brunette as she ran her hands down her face. I lightly touched her shoulder to get her attention. She turned to me and smiled weakly.

"Sorry Kate." I shook my head.

"No Bella. It's fine. I just wish I knew how to help you feel better. You seem really stressed but I don't know you that well so I can't really help as much as I want." It was true. Despite her being part of the family for over a decade now we weren't really close. She and I had never sat down and spoken before. She just seemed to click with Irina more.

Mind you Bella and I got along when it came to making trouble and pulling pranks, but we had never opened up to each other before. She took my hand and held it in her lap.

"I'm fine Kate. What about you? I know this must be hard on you. You had Grace all to yourself for 9 years and all of a sudden you are having to compete with all of us for Grace's time." I laughed lightly at the irony of it all. Everyone was so worried about me or Esme or Carmen. No one had really sat down with Grace and asked how she was handling this all.

"I'm fine Bella. But something I just realized. Maybe we should talk to Grace." Bella furrowed her brows then quickly her eyebrows went up and her mouth went into a tiny O form.

Before we got any farther into that thought we heard a car pull into the driveway. I could tell by the sound of the tires and engines that it was Carlisle. Esme and Grace also froze, and I heard Grace mutter something very quietly to her mother then the bed creaking. They were on their way down. I looked up at the staircase and saw the duo walking down hand in hand at a human pace knowing they had the time.

Carlisle opened the door and him and Esme were quickly off to their room to talk. Grace sat on my lap and curled up looking at Bella as Alice settled at Bella's feet. I gave my love a small kiss to her temple squeezing her a bit.

"Moms going to be okay, isn't she?" I heard come from beside me from the little pixie. "I can't seem to see much right now." I felt Grace tense slightly. "Jakes just been around a lot. He usually blocks my visions." The tension left Graces body as quickly as it hit her.

"Yes Ali. She will be okay because she has us. We are all going to be okay." I could hear the confidence in her voice. I smiled at the girl in my arms but was quickly pulled out of my thoughts as my phone buzzed.

"We need to get home. Now Grace." I pushed my phone deep into my pants pocket after reading the text from my sister.

**K. You and G need to get home now. Derek is on his way to the Cullen's to find her. He's pissed.**

"What happened Kate?" I heard the concern in her voice before I even looked up into her eyes. My world crumbled around me.

"Derek's looking for you. He wants revenge." I saw the fear contort her face at the mention of his name. She shrank down into my lap pulling on her hair.

"No… no… no… Kate I can't leave. What if he finds Esme? He's going to kill all of you." She said with a steel in her voice at the end of the sentence that started out so quietly. "I will not run. I will go to him and face him. I did nothing wrong. He attacked me."

She had a look of determination on her face, but I knew she was scared, it was deep, but I could see the fear running in her eyes.

**Kate! Answer me!**

I pulled my phone out again and sent a text back to my coven leader. I then felt Grace shift off my lap as Esme and Carlisle came down the stairs. Jasper wandered in with Edward through the back door from the forest. The tension in the air hit everyone like a ton of bricks.

"Wha- I- Grace what's wrong?" Jasper finally managed to stutter out after a pregnant pause. Everyone's eyes whipped to him then to Grace, Esme stepping forward slightly out of Carlisles arms. Edward growled after something must have flashed through Grace's head.

"He won't touch you Grace." He hissed then ran out the front door. Before he could reach the door, Grace had grabbed his arm. She shook her head at him while silently saying something in her mind. Rage filled his face and his body started shaking with anger. "You are NOT going to meet him on your own Grace! He tried to hurt you!"

She flinched away as the fear took over his body and stepped back waiting for the hit that didn't come. Esme and Rosalie were by her side in an instant. Edward took a deep breath to calm himself. I noticed the slight drop of his head as he realized what had caused that reaction.

"Sorry Grace… I just won't let anyone hurt you…" Grace just nodded stepping back to me and leaned against me. My arms snaked around the smaller girl's waist as we all heard the footsteps running through the forest.

Grace whimpered slightly as trees were knocked down in the path of destruction before he came to grinding halt. The sickening sneer came from outside the house.

"Gracie pie. Come on out and face me." Grace took a deep breath and looked over at the Cullen's then at me then went towards the door. She took the steps outside of the house slowly with all of us following her outside. I stepped up beside her wrapping my arm around her waist. Esme and Carlisle stepped up on her other side, Alice and Jasper on my side.

"What do you want from me Derek?" Grace asked looking up at the black-haired man. "I'm pretty sure when you tried to kill me, we had an unspoken agreement to not see each other anymore."

Derek snarled crouching down.

"You killed my mate. You need to die." Those 8 words set off an all-out war.

The Cullen's and I crouched down to prepare to fight. He straightened realizing how outnumbered he was. Grace rolled her eyes and stepped towards Derek. He stepped back. Before any of us could get a word out he ran into the forest.

"Well that was…" Alice started.

"Anticlimactic." Jasper finished his sentence which pulled out a few murmured agreements from the family. Grace sighed and took a step out of my arms.

"I need to go hunt." She took a few steps away from me and was gone before anyone could say anything. I tried to move to run after her but noticed my legs wouldn't move. I looked down and gasped.

"She froze us." I muttered causing everyone to look down at their feet. Emmett tried to pull his feet out and growled softly when he realized he couldn't. "Her ice is not normal ice. It is powered by her venom and it's very difficult to break."

Esme looked at me with a furrowed brow then down at the ice. Grace walked out of the woods sheepishly looking at me and the Cullen's. She waved her hand over our feet and we all stumbled as the ice released us.

"Sorry…" She grumbled. I raced over and pulled her into my arms. She shrugged me off quickly. "I do need to hunt…" I stepped forward to go with her, but she shook her head. "Alone K."

She was off again. I sighed and headed back to my house. I pulled the door open and was quickly surrounded by my family being berated with questions. I put my hand up to get them to stop asking.

"She went out hunting and will come home afterwards."

"You let her go hunting on her own?!" Tanya asked throwing her hands up in the air. "Derek may not have done anything but he's still there!" I groaned putting my hands over my face not even thinking.

"Damn…" I muttered and ran back out of the door and back to the front of the Cullen's house.

* * *

Esme's POV

After Kate sighed and drove him, I rolled my eyes noticing that no one even thought to make sure Grace was okay. I slipped out of Carlisle's arms and ran at a human pace following Grace's scent. I watched her as she sat down on a rock and stuck her feet into a river.

"You're not as quiet as you think mom…" She muttered pulling a light chuckle from me. I sat down beside her and brushed the hair out of her face. She smiled softly at me and looked back down at the river.

"I know you said you want to be alone, but I don't want you out here with Derek still around. I don't know what happened, but I know that Edward would not have reacted that way for no reason."

Grace closed her eyes and supressed a shudder. She stood up and threw the rock that was in her hand across the river. I sat watching her not wanting to interrupt her thoughts. I could see her gears grinding. She turned to face me with her hands shoved down into her pockets.

"Derek was nice… I spent my first 40 years with him. I decided to go off on my own for a bit. Be a nomad. Before I left, he had met his mate. She was nice and kind, but I never had any kind of relationship with her. I left to give them so privacy. I was on my own, but it was fine.

"I liked travelling and spending time learning new things about myself. I went back to visit after about 20 years to say hi and see how they were doing. Apparently in those 20 years he changed. Or rather she changed his personality. I went over one day and we, his wife and I, were sitting at the table talking. He came in and saw me and instantly started making advances on me. He had me cornered and his hands were making their ways to places I didn't want.

"That's when the fire came out for the first time… the flames just sort of left my hands and his wife was gone…" She started to break down and wrapped her arms around her knees. I ran over to her and pulled her into my arms. I kissed her head as she calmed down.

"He was pissed… he chased me for 8 days… I finally ran into the Denali coven as they were hunting… I lived with them for a while before I finally allowed myself to open up and accept what Kate was trying to give me... love me."

She looked up at me smiling softly.

"It's because of Kate I forgave myself for what I did to his wife… it still hurts"

"My love. I'm sure you have heard this a million times, but it happens. You had no control of your gift. You didn't even know you had it." She nodded into me and sat up.

I heard a rustling and I jumped up crouching in front of Grace. Kate emerged from the forest around us and stepped towards me with one hand up. Grace bolted around me and buried into Kates arms. I watched the two as Kate comforted Grace with a small smile on my face.

It was a perfect moment until Derek flew out of the trees and had Grace in his arms before Kate could do anything. Grace pushed Derek off her, but he was faster. I vaulted into the air and as Grace pushed him up into the air off her again, I grabbed his neck and rolled to the ground. I was pinned under him with his hand on my neck pushing me down.

His eyes were black, and I could feel my neck start to form cracks from the pressure. Kate pounced over me and Derek and pushed him off me. She shocked him as he fell and held him down. Grace had a fire ball in her hand, and I could hear someone shouting at her to throw it. My head whipped around and I saw Tanya calling at Grace to throw it.

"G! Throw the ball now!" Grace stepped back as the fire in her hand diminished.

"Grace throw it!" I yelled at her as Kate zapped Derek.

"Grace Esme Denali! Throw it now!" Tanya's coven leader came out forcing Grace to throw it towards Derek as Kate jumped out of the way. The fire consumed the man quickly as Kate ripped his head off and threw it into the fire.

Grace took a couple of steps back and stumbled over a log falling on her but.

She looked horrified. Kate ran over to her and pushed the hair out of her face.

"I know G. I know you hate hurting people, but he was going to kill you and almost killed Esme." With that Grace looked over at me as the cracks started to heal on my neck. She nodded slightly and leaned into Kate. "It's over Grace. He can't hurt you anymore. I promise."


	12. Chapter 12: War scars

_Short chapter i know. I'm sorry about it but I've been working non stop and cant seem to get any time._

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Graces POV

I sat on the ground staring at the fire burning. I noticed Tanya helping Esme off the ground and the two ran off for Esme to hunt to heal from the cracks in her neck. Kate sat beside me and pulled me into her arms. I tried to push her away but her arms just pulled me in closer.

"Kate I don't-" She quickly covered my mouth to stop me.

"You don't finish that sentence Grace. I won't let you run off this time. You did what you had to do. Derek was going to hurt you if you hadn't." I hissed as her hand ran down my arm. Her eye brows raised right away. I pulled my arm away and flinched grabbing my arm away from her.

"Don't. I don't deserve to be loved right now. I just killed someone." I rubbed my face groaning.

"You're hurt G. What happened to your arm?" She pulled my sleeve up showing a bite from what must have been Derek. She gasped covering her mouth. "G! He bit you!"

I glanced down at my arm eyebrows furrowed. There on my left arm was a bite that had created a crack from my wrist to my elbow. I closed my eyes as the pain started to trickle into my arm and up my shoulder. The fire hit my chest and down my body. The pain swallowed my head and the blackness took over.

I woke up staring at a light that I instantly knew I was in Carlisles office. I tried to sit up but felt a hand pushing me down back on the bed. I noticed the similar scent of my girlfriend- no I mean fiancée- next to me. I looked up at her and frowned noticing the concern on her face.

I looked over at Carlisle who was sitting at the desk not ten feet away from us then back at Kate.

"What happened?" I asked my voice a little hoarse, its normal bell like sound gone. Carlisle frowned after hearing my voice. I coughed once and tried to sit up again. This time Kate helped me sit up slowly. "Carlisle what happened?" My voice back to its normal bells.

"After you were attacked by Derek you passed out from pain from his bite. It turns out it wasn't the only place he had bit you. You have 3 bites on one arm. It must have hurt quite a bit." I shook my head frowning.

"Yes but not anymore." I sighed as I remembered the attack. Derek had ripped me out of Kates arms and whilst he had me on the gorund he had bit me to try and get me to stop fighting back but mom had jumped in. "MOM!" I looked up at Kate frantically. "Mom! Wheres mom?"

"I'm right here baby girl." I whipped my head around and saw mom sitting on the couch. I flung myself into her arms hugging her neck. "We're both just fine babe." She pulled me into her arms rubbing my back.

I pulled back and sat beside her. I heard footsteps and then saw Eleazar peek his head around the door with Carmen not far behind him. Both of their gazes looked down at my arm where I had been bit. They stared for a little to long before I pulled my other arm around my arm.

They smiled sheepishly and coughed.

"Sorry kiddo. We heard you up and wanted to check up on you." Carmen explained coming into the room. "I was worried." I rolled my eyes smiling at the Hispanics who couldn't keep their gazes from shooting down to look at my arm. I then heard Jasper whisper something and footsteps come running up.

Alice opened the door a little more and smiled wide.

"G! You're awake!" She ran over to me and pulled me into a hug forcing my arms to fall to the side. After she pulled back her gaze slowly fell down to my arm.

I frowned and looked down at my arm where the bites were. The crack was still barely healing and the bite marks stood out prominently on my pale arm. Reminding me a lot of Jaspers arms. I looked up at everyone who had gone back to staring at my arm.

Jasper quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the couch.

"Until you people learn to stop staring and making the poor girl anxious, we will be in the living room." He tugged on my arm and we headed into the hallway. We stopped at my room so I could pull on a hoodie to hide the marks on my arm.

"I don't want everyone else to stare later." I explained to the eyebrow raised from Jasper. He shook his head as we headed down to the living room and sat on the couch.

"You don't need to hide them Grace. They show just how strong you are." He smiled at me and turned the tv on to distract me however that didn't help.

I stared at the arm of the sleeve of my hoodie thinking back. I obviously wasn't that strong if I passed out from a couple of vampire bites. I could barely protect myself with my mommy to protect me. I snorted at that thought and slouched down on to the couch more glaring out the window. I was a pathetic vampire.

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Jaspers POV

I walked into Carlisle's office with Alice after hearing Carmen speak to Grace. Alice pulled my hand as she skipped into the office. She flung into her best friends arms. Grace's arms fell as Alice pulled back and we both saw the bit marks. I quickly averted my eyes to look at Alice who kept staring at them.

Grace fidgeted with her arm trying to cover it up. I knew what that fidgeting meant. She was uncomfortable with all the stares she was getting. I grasped her good hand and pulled her to standing up right.

"Until you people learn to stop staring and making this poor girl anxious, we will be in the living room." I tugged her hand to get us out of the office and she followed. We had to pass her bedroom and she pulled out and grabbed a hoodie off her bed. She pulled it on.

I looked over at her with an eyebrow raised as we sat down on the couch in the living room.

"I don't want everyone else to stare later." She explained to me and I shook my head sighing at her.

"You don't need to hide them Grace. They show just how strong you are." I said with a finality and turned the tv on hoping to distract her. She slouched down on the couch and stared out the window. Her snort brought my attention back to her. She had a weird look on her face obviously contemplating something.

"Grace… whats wrong?" I tilted my head looking at her trying to get a grasp on her emotions. Her emotions were running wild and I couldn't fully grasp her emotions and then nothing. I gasped looking over at her as her eyes lost their gleam.

Esme came down the stairs with Carmen looking a little sheepish. Grace looked over at them with her dead eyes. Esme's eyebrows furrowed when she saw Grace's eyes.

"Baby girl… what happened…?" I frowned looking over at my mother figure.

"Her emotions… they went haywire and now… nothing." I muttered towards the two women who gave me a look confused.

"What do you mean nothing Jazz?" Esme tilted her head, her emotions confused. "Her emotions like turned off?" I nodded with a small frown. Carlisle came down after hearing that. He took a spot in front of Grace who was just staring blankly out the window.

"Grace… Grace look at me. Look in my eyes please." Grace just sighed and looked over at Esme hen back down at her arm. "Grace sweetheart look at me please."

"Why?" Grace muttered picking the non-existent lint off her sleeve. Esme shook her head siting beside her daughter.

"Talk to me please baby…" She pushed the hair out of Graces face and cupped her chin. "Grace Denali. You need to look at me and tell me whats wrong. Edward isn't here and none of us can magically read your mind."

"Why does it matter what my emotions are doing? I mean it makes sense that my emotions would be crap just like I am." Esme gasped and shook her head. She opened her mouth but Grace cut her off. "I'm a pathetic excuse for a vampire and you know it. I can't even protect myself from a nomad and I have a gift! It's pathetic that I need my _mommy_ to come rescue me."

She sneered the word mommy which caused Esme to flinch slightly. All mom could do was shake her head looking at her step daughter.

"Grace Esme Denali you know that is not true. You can do anything you want. What happened with Derek means nothing to youre strength as a vampire. You were personally connected to him which made it hard to hurt him. Him being your sire made it very difficult to hurt him."

Grace frowned looking over at her mom then at me. I nodded. Carlisle took her hand.

"Your mother is right Grace. Because of your connection with Derek you would have found it difficult to hurt him." Grace shhok her head and glanced down at her hands again closing her eyes.

I wasn't going to be easy to convince Grace of what was true but it would happen. Her emotions were still quiet in her head but there was a small inkling. Maybe our parents words had given her an inkling of hope.


	13. Chapter 13: Sister who?

Carmen's POV

I watched as Esme held Graces face to talk to her. I know now that it was best for Esme to step up and take the mother role to Grace. I looked over at Kate who stared helplessly at her mate eyes wide. Kate's eyes glanced over to me quickly and I tilted my head in the direction of the cars.

She followed me out to my car and slipped into the front seat next to me. I pulled out of the driveway and quickly pulled on to the highway. I noticed Kates frame shaking. I pulled over and brushed the hair out of her face grabbing one of her hands.

"She doesn't think she's good enough but she's so much more than that… I just wish I knew how to help her Carmen." She spluttered out as her head turned to look at me. I smiled softly and shook my head.

"Kate it will work it's self out. Grace has a lot of problems from her father and Derek. Things that I know will need a family." Before I could get another word out Kate had whipped her whole body around to face me. Her eyes darkened a couple of shades.

"We are Grace's family. Not them." Her voice in a low growl. I cocked an eyebrow at the blond in front of me. I scoffed out a laugh as I turned to drive off and towards the house. Kate just kept her death glare on me until I pulled into the driveway. Even then she glared at me as we got out of the car.

"Kate Denali would you please stop. You are not a child. Grace can have more than one family. Besides the Cullen's are our fa-" I stopped with a yelp when I felt a zap on my arm. My face turned down as I looked at the gifted one. Eleazar was out of the house and had his arms around me glaring down Kate.

"She's being taken by them. They're stealing her from me…" Her glare towards my husband and I quickly turned into a little pout as she turned and stormed off into the house. I turned into my mates' arms and nuzzled my head into his chest taking a deep unneeded breath.

It was at this moment that I was glad that he was so much taller than me. My head fit perfectly under his chin as I nuzzled into him. His arms placed perfectly around my waist as he pressed kisses to my head.

"Yo se, mi amor…"Eleazar murmured gently in his thick Spanish accent. I sighed into his chest nodding. I was pulled out of my musings by my phone ringing in my back pocket. I fished it out and swiped to answer barely registering who was calling.

"Carmen Denali speaking." I answered burying my head into Eleazar's neck again.

"Carmen… why did you guys leave?" I heard Grace's soft voice ask through the phone. I mentally flinched as I realized what we had done. Kate and I had just left without saying goodbye.

"I'm so sorry G. Kate was… we weren't thinking…" I muttered sheepishly to the young girl. There was silence on the other side of the phone for a few seconds before I heard Grace take a deep breath.

"I upset her again because I went to Esme for comfort instead of her again… Carmen I keep messing things up with Kate…" I let out a soft chuckle as Grace rambled on. The two of them blaming themselves for their relationship woes was adorable. "Carmen can you come get me. I don't want to run home in the rain." My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up to the sky.

It was at that moment I noticed the rain pelting down on us. I laughed loudly shaking my head.

"Yes G. E and I are on the way." I promised as I looked up at the man that I love. I hung up the phone and locked it shoving it back in my pocket. "Let's go put some dry clothes on and then go get her mi amor."

He laughed and nodded. We jumped up to our balcony and were changed and in the car headed towards the Cullen's house. I kissed my hand as he intertwined our hands on the centre console. I stared out the window as the highway flew past. He was swerving around drivers as no one here knew how to drive when a rainstorm hit despite how often they came around. ((AN: I'm from Victoria and honestly that sentence is ridiculously accurate! We live in a rainforest and it rains most of the time here, yet people forget how to drive in the rain?!))

I watched as the pull off for the Cullen's approached and he pulled off and on to a side road not far down. We were at the Cullen's driveway and down the driveway faster than most people would be. I pulled the front door open and walked into the living room as Grace stepped out of the kitchen with Alice's arm looped through hers. Her face lit up when I walked into the room and my favourite smile of hers broke out across her face.

She was quickly tucked under Eleazar's chin hugging us both, her arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"Eleazar!" She kissed his cheek pulling my eyebrow up out of sheer confusion. "I haven't really seen Zar in a while…" She muttered sheepishly staring at us through her eyelashes. I smiled and kissed her cheek.

She said her goodbyes to the Cullen's and climbed into the backseat of the car quickly grabbing the aux cord to play her own music. She always complained about mine and Eleazar's, saying we listen to "old people" music. Which I didn't understand but always rolled my eyes with a smile on my face.

The car ride home was longer than the ride there as we driving with the flow of traffic of people driving home back to Colwood from town. Rush hour was not fun to be in but at least we had Grace to entertain us with her "music lessons" as she so kindly told us. I laughed as Grace tried to explain who Post Malone was to Eleazar who didn't understand.

We pulled into our garage and opened the doors to the car when we heard the yelling get louder. I groaned knowing it was Kate and Tanya at each other's throats. Grace and Eleazar were quickly in the living room with the blond sisters holding them apart from each other. Kate was so busy growling at her sister with a death glare that she barely noticed her mate who had her arms wrapped around her.

Kate used her full power electricity to zap whoever was holding her. Grace held tight but screamed out in pain which pulled Kate out of her feral state and whipped around in her mates' arms.

"Grace! I'm so sorry!" She pulled Grace into her arms as the smaller girl struggled to stand upright. "I didn't even know it was you! I thought you were with the Cullen's!" Grace stood up shakily and smiled softly. Her hand going up to cup Kates cheek.

"Babe, I'm fine." The dark-haired girl muttered to her mate who just shook her head and pulled her closer. "Kate I'm fine! You can't hurt me remember? It more just shocked me than actually hurt." She stroked Kates cheek pulling Kates small smile out.

Tanya had settled down enough for Eleazar to let her go but he stayed near her just in case she decided that her sister should still be ripped apart. I stepped in between the two groups.

"What is going on here?" I demanded towards the sisters who both had the decency to look sheepish. "Why are you two at each other's throats? You two run around this house and ruin all my hard work!" They both muttered their apologies to me.

"Kate I'm sorry I snapped at you. I just couldn't handle your sulking anymore. Grace loves you more than life itself and you know that." Tanya said sitting on the couch putting her head in her hands. "I shouldn't have screamed at you."

Kate shook her head and sat beside her sister taking her hands in hers.

"No T. I shouldn't have been sulking a bitching to you. That's not fair. I know Grace loves me, just I feel self-conscious sometimes. I hate when we fight Tanya. I know we hate talking about her but we both know Irina wouldn't want us fighting like this."

"Damn right I wouldn't." We all heard the familiar voice pipe up from behind us. I whipped around and stared at the blonde who we all thought to be dead.

"Irina?" I stepped forward eyebrow furrowed. Irina Denali stood in front of our family looking a little rough for the wear but alive.

Irina's POV

I swiftly pulled the scarf off my head staring ahead. I knew I smelt awful and looked like death, but I needed to see them. I watched the sign welcoming us to Victoria from the airport. The cab driver pulled on to the highway and not quite fast enough drove towards my family's house.

My family. The Denali coven. I was finally going to get to see my sisters after nearly 20 years. My sisters and cousins who thought I was dead. I still wasn't sure how I was going to do it, but I would have to explain to them where I had been. Why I couldn't live with them. To keep them safe. I watched the trees slowly go by as the cab pulled up the driveway and stopped at the house.

I handed the driver cash and walked out. I heard people talking inside the house.

"I hate when we fight Tanya. I know we hate talking about her but we both know Irina wouldn't want us fighting like this." Fighting? My sisters were fighting. I always hated when we fought. The three of us were inseparable and rarely fought.

"Damn right I wouldn't." I said as I stepped into the living room and took in the scene in front of me. My sisters were sitting on the couch looking pained. Carmen was standing in the middle of the living room with her hands up, Eleazar stood to the right of the couch. A brunette I didn't recognize was standing to the left of Carmen with her arms folded across her chest.

They all turned when they heard me spoke. Their pained or angry faces quickly morphed into shock then sadness then back to shock as they took my ragged looking body in. Carmen was the first one to speak as she stepped forward.

"Irina?"


	14. Chapter 14: Family home

A/N: sorry for how long this took to update. The Holidays are a hectic time for my family and i'm also looking for a full time job right now so theres that as well. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Its kind of al over this place but tbh i kind of like it/

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Kates POV

I stared at my ragged older sister as she stood in the doorway to our living room. My mind was running a million miles a minute as I studied my sister. Her hair was longer than it used to be. The blonde in her hair was almost brown from dirt, the ringlets coated in mud. Her normally perfect face looked very sullen.

She looked exhausted while we all stared at her from our positions around the living room. I saw a small shuffle out of the corner of my eye and saw Grace take a step back as Tanya on my other side jumped into our sisters arms and tackled her on to the ground screaming her name.

"IRINA!" Tanya screamed pulling Irina to a sitting position and held her close to her chest. I quickly joined the two blondes on the ground and pulled both Irina and Tanya in my arms. We spent about an hour sobbing into each other.

I couldn't believe this. Irina had been gone for so many years I thought she had died. Irina buried her head into my neck and inhaled deeply. The tickling from her curls made me relax into her more. I then sniffed her hair and pulled back, wrinkling my nose slightly.

"Rina I love you and you don't understand how much I missed you but you reek." I muttered into the dirty blonde hair under my face. This pulled a laugh out of my "older sister" as she pulled back from our arms. I stared into her eyes then noticed the small amount of red left in them and gasped. "Ree! Your eyes!"

She tore her face away from Tanyas hand and squeezed her eyes shut at the mention of the red. She took a large unneeded breath in.

"It wasn't my choice… I hate myself every day for it… I know I smell bad… I need to shower." She laughed looking up at us with a small smile on her face. We both nodded at this with small smirks on our faces.

"Upstairs first door on the right. You can borrow some of Grace's clothes. Her clothes are on the right side of the closet." Irina raised an eyebrow at me unsure of who Grace was but nodded anyways.

"Thanks Katie. Can I ask-"

"Grace is my mate. She's standing" I turned to point her out but she wasn't there. I groaned and slapped my head. "She was in here but doesn't do well with new people. It seems like Carmen, Eleazar and Grace left to give us space with you."

"Thanks Kate. I'll run up and take a shower now." She ran up the stairs and we quickly heard the water being turned on. Grace wandered back into the living room with her hands shoved into her jean pockets.

"Sorry I ran out… I wanted to give you three space." Tanya laughed as she ran her hand through her hair. I smiled and sat on the couch pulling Grace down on to my lap kissing her temple, Tanya sitting beside us with a small smile on her face.

"Rina is back. She's alive. I thought she died…" I nodded leaning my chin on Grace's shoulder as she buried back into my arms as Carmen and Eleazar wandered back into the room and settled down on the loveseat.

"So, Irina is back… our coven is whole again…" I felt Grace laugh against my chest. "How are we going to tell the Cullen's?" Carmen asked probably thinking out loud. "I mean we can't really just bring her over because they didn't know she was just missing… they thought she died." She continued her musing until Irina came back down the stairs.

The Hispanic woman jumped into the blonde's arms and held her close. Irina smiled and melted into the dark-haired woman. Carmen really felt like a step-in maternal figure to us. I watched as Irina looked at her the at Eleazar who just smiled and kissed her temple.

"It's nice to have you back Rina." The Spanish man said sitting beside his wife on the armchair again. Grace just buried herself farther into my lap hoping to blend into my lap. I laughed placing my chin on her shoulder looking over at my sister who stared a me and the raven-haired girl on my lap.

"Hi. I'm Irina." I felt a small giggle come from Grace on my lap.

"I'm Grace… I've heard all about you from Kat." I laughed at the raised eyebrow from Irina as the nickname from Grace that as Irina thinks I hate.

"Only Gracie can call me that Rina. Don't even think about it." I warned Irina who just laughed at the same time as Grace. I closed my eyes and laid my forehead against her shoulder blade.

"And only Kat can call me Gracie." Grace piped up from my lap pulling a small chuckle out of Tanya. She had learned that the hard way when she called her Gracie by accident and had to deal with the silent treatment from Grace for 4 months. Tanya swiped her hand on her forehead then hitting Grace with the back of her hand lightly which pulled a laugh from the 3 of us.

Irina watched the three of us interact with a look in her eye I couldn't quite decipher. She caught my eye and gave me a small smile and looked away looking around the house. There were pictures all over the house of the family. The main photo on top of the mantle was of Carmen, Eleazar, Tanya, Irina and myself. I was standing next to a chair that held both the Hispanics, Carmen on Eleazar's lap, Tanya on the other side, Irina standing behind the chair.

Irina stood up and walked towards the family portrait. She tilted her head as she looked at the pictures on the mantle, none of which contained Grace. Her eyes flitted towards Grace then back at all the pictures. Her hand traced one of the three of us sisters.

"Why is there no pictures of Grace?" She asked quietly still facing away from us. Grace sighed looking down at her hands in her lap, I snaked my hands around her waist and rubbed the knuckles on her hand.

"I didn't want the Cullens to know I was part of this family so the only pictures of me are up in mine and Kates room." She said after taking a huge deep breath. "Esme was my step mom when we were human and she didn't know I was alive until September. My father was very abusive and I was scared she wouldn't want me around because I reminded her of him to much."

Tanya's eyes were trained on Grace's face as she told our sister the story. I nuzzle my nose into her black hair keeping her grounded. She was never this open with anyone. It took her months to be this open with me, and I was her mate. She wasn't even turning warm and her hair kept cool. Tanya couldn't stop staring at the young girl until Carmen coughed so her eyes shifted to the Hispanic.

I felt Grace shift forward and pull her sweater off. This action alone drew a huge smile across my face which Grace pulled an eyebrow at when she turned to throw the sweater across the back of the couch. I could see the question in her small smile and behind her eyes.

"You haven't worn short sleeves since the Derek incident." I pointed out as Grace ducked her head, unconsciously covering her arm with her hand. Irina turned to look at us confused. "Don't be ashamed G. We won't stare."

"What happened? Who's Derek?" I heard in a quiet voice come from Irina who looked unsure if she should ask those questions. Tanya and I both shot glances at Grace to see how she would react but instead of her flaming hair going up or her ice picks forming in her hands she gave a small smile to Irina letting her know it was okay for her to ask.

"Derek created me… he saved me from 2 things. 1 being drained by a nomad vampire and 2 dying painfully and slowly from my father beating me." Her hands started to frost over at the mention of her father, I rubbed her arms nuzzling my nose into her neck to calm her down. "As to what happened, Derek tried to attack me and managed to get me tackled with 3 bites on my arm before mom got him off of me."

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Irina's POV

I couldn't believe my ears at what Derek had done to Grace. What had caused him to attack her? What drew me so much to this girl? Why had her hands started to look frosty? I heard a smack and was quickly pulled out of my thoughts and turned to look at Kate who was pouting at Grace who looked angry as Tanya smirked to her side.

"Stop picking on T!" Grace said with a raised eyebrow. I shook my head confused as hell and turned to look at Carmen and Eleazar who looked just as confused as me.

"What just happened girls?" Eleazar asked standing to pull Grace up off Kates lap with a stern look on his face. "Grace you do not have a right to smack Kate like that. Even if she annoyed you." Grace pouted looking down at the ground crossing her arms over her chest. Kate smirked puffing her chest out at her girlfriend with pride.

"Kate muttered a rude comment about Tanya being protective of me when my hands frosted." Grace stated looking up at the Hispanic man in front of her. "Then she zapped me when I turned to look at her and held me still."

"You still don't smack people Grace." Eleazar started.

"But Kate-" Grace interrupted the man mid sentence.

"I'm not talking about Kate right now. You are not to hit other people. You are to young to be trying to fight me on this Grace. I want you upstairs in your room now." Graces mouth gaped opened staring at the man. "I said now Grace Denali." Grace whipped around and stomped towards the stairs. "Drop the attitude young lady. I will not tolerate it."

"You. Are. Not. My. Father." Grace said quietly turning slowly to look at Eleazar with a icy cold glare. "I'm leaving." She turned to look at Kate who looked shocked at the situation. When Kate didn't try and defend the raven haired girl or try and stop her Grace's face dropped. Ice flew out of her hands as she clenched her fists closed. She ripped something off her wrist and chucked on the ground and stormed off.

Kate quickly composed herself and ran off after the younger girl. I turned to look at Tanya who noticed me turn and looked at me.

"Did- did she just shoot ice out of her hands?" I asked glancing over at the little puddles on the ground where the bracelet sat. Tanya nodded wordlessly as she stepped over and picked up the leather bracelet. "What just happened?"

"Grace has a lot of things she needs to get help with and she struggles getting over her past. She feels like shes not part of this coven and when Kate didn't immediately defend her after making a comment about how I shouldn't be so protective of her. She took it that shes not part of the coven so it doesn't matter." Tanya sat back on the couch, I sat beside her glancing over at the Hispanics who were sat on the love seat.

"E she didn't mean it. Shes frustrated and you know she doesn't take to being parented by men very well especially when she gets pushed around." Carmen said towards Eleazar who just nodded rubbing his face in his hands.

"I messed up. I shouldn't have pulled her up like that." Eleazar stated in a small voice as someone stepped in the door quickly followed by someone else. All our heads whipped to the door to see Grace and Kate standing at the door, Kate's arm around Grace's waist looking at the small girl. Graces gaze at the floor as she wrung her hands.

"No E… I shouldn't have reacted like that…" Grace said looking over at the man. They made eye contacted and Grace bolted into his arms as he rubbed her back. "I just… I got angry and I didn't mean it."

Tanya stood beside them and she clasped the bracelet back around Grace's wrist. The black haired girl looked up and gave a small smile to the blonde coven leader.

"You are part of this coven Grace. Even if you and Kate hadn't been mated, you still mean the world to all of us. Even Rina and you've literally just met. You are my little sister and we all know Carmen and Eleazar see you much like their child. You can't just up and run away from us. Youre stuck kid." Grace laughed at the older woman in front of her.

"We all love you a lot G and you aren't allowed to just run away anymore." Carmen said to the small girl as we all piled in on her and created a group hug.


	15. Chapter 15: Forgiveness

A/N: im pretty proud of this chapter. the whole family is together and its cute.

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Grace's POV

I watched as Irina, Tanya and Kate sat on the floor of the living room and played a game. It was amazing to see all of them back together. I could see the change in Kate's demeanor, she was happier, lighter. Her eyes light up every time they saw Irina sitting in between herself and Tanya. My eyes fluttered back down to the text book on my lap as I went over the notes I had just taken.

It was finals week for me and since nobody else in my coven were currently taking any classes so I was the only one who was surrounded by books trying to understand the words of one of the online quizzes for my math class. I sent a quick text off to Alice to get help, however when I picked my phone up I heard Eleazar cough and send me a look to stop playing.

"What?" I looked up at him eyes wide. "I'm asking Alice a question about the fake final." I raised my eyebrows at the Hispanic man who just hummed in response and went back to the game of chess him and Carmen were in the middle of.

I looked back down at my laptop and read through the next question. I felt two arms wrap themselves around my neck. I inhaled and noticed the scent of orange cinnamon from behind me and smiled softly burrowing back into the chest of my mate.

"How's the studying going love?" She murmured into my ear and I smiled up at her softly. "You look a little tired…" She mused taking in my face. I snorted and rolled my eyes patting her hands which were locked at my shirt line my head turning back to the pages in front of me.

"I never realized how much I hate math and now I know why I have never taken a math class before." She laughed and nuzzled her nose into my hair then stood up letting go of my neck.

"Well I'm down to take a bit of a study break." She raised her eyebrows with a little smirk. I heard Tanya groan from behind her and Carmen making a small gagging noise. Kate whipped around to face them. "I was going to say to go for a hunt!" She held her hands up in a surrender motion towards the other women.

"In case none of you have noticed Grace's eyes are black and she looks like hell." I looked up at my fiancée shocked. I stood up raising an eyebrow placing my hands on my hips. She turned to look at me with an apologetic face. "Babe… no… I mean…" The look on her face was beyond comical. Her eyes wide with fear running through the gold orbs.

I bit my lip trying to try and hold back a laugh. She studied my face until I couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. She took a small step back then growled and zapped my side. I yelped feeling the electricity run through my body.

"That was not funny Grace. I thought you were mad at me!" She pouted crossing her arms across my chest. I took a deep breath to regain myself then stepped forward with a glint in my eye smirking. I heard a door slam then looked around and noticed that only Irina was left. Said blond was standing at the door with her eyebrow raised hands on her hips.

"Don't wreck the house. Carm will murder you two." She smirked and walked out the door closing it behind her. I looked back over at my mate who stood with a small smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes and walked towards her.

* * *

Irina's POV

I heard the car door close and then Kate and Grace talking to each other. I took a deep breath as I got out of the car and turned to look at the Cullen's house. Grace took my hand and squeezed it gently giving me a little courage.

The front door opened and Carlisle and Esme stepped out with their eyes wide. I watched as the rest of the Cullen's trailed after them and the gasps of shock running through the crowd. I watched the realization cross the faces. The next thing I knew I was wrapped in the arms of a tiny little pixie who was squealing.

"Do you know how long I've been holding this in?!" She buzzed into my ear and pushed back holding me by my shoulders. "I saw you come home but knew you wouldn't want me to say anything so I haven't and I was going to explode but I'm so happy you're home!" I blinked a few times trying to take in all of what she said then laughed at the bouncing pixie.

I was quickly enveloped in the arms of the rest of the Cullen's as they welcomed me back. All but Edward, Bella and Renesmee who just stared at me. I winced noticing how different the young girl looked compared to the last time I had seen her in that clearing. Bella kept her gaze down as Edward wrapped his arm around her waist.

"It's nice to see you again Irina." He nodded curtly in my direction and looked down at Bella who just shoved some rocks around at her feet. I bit my lip stealing a glance at tanya who sighed and cut her eyes to Carlisle who stepped up to Bella and whispered something in her ear. She sighed and looked up at me and nodded smiling with a tight lip.

"Bella… Edward… I wanted… I shouldn't… I was wrong." I couldn't quite get the words out of my mouth as I stare wide eyed at the couple. Renesmee stepped forward and held her hand out. I bit my lip and stepped forward allowing the young girl to put her hand on my cheek. I saw the scene in the forest of me on the rock watching her collect snowflakes then me standing next to the Volturi. I nodded closing my eyes letting her know she was right about who I was.

"Irina… you didn't know what I was… I looked like an immortal child… you couldn't have known." I opened my eyes looking at the brown eyes in front of me. "I never blamed you Irina." She smiled and pulled me into her arms. I wrapped my arms around the hybrids waist squeezing her gently. She pulled back with a small smile.

Bella and Edward looked at their daughter then back at me. Edward smiled softly and gave me a small hug. "I'm glad you are back Irina." I nodded with a small smile. Bella bit her lip and wrung her hands squeezing her eyes shut.

"Bella… don't worry about it… its okay if you can't forgive me yet…" She looked up at me and back at the ground. I turned to see Tanya smiling at me. "Maybe we could all go inside?" I asked the group and received a lot of hums of agreements and nods.

* * *

Bella's POV

I watched the group head inside the house lead by Irina. I felt a small squeeze of my hand and looked up to see Edward. He gave me a small smile. It was in this moment I was thankful for my shield.

"I'm going to hunt. I'll be back in a bit." I took a step back and turned to run into the forest. I got about 10 minutes into my run when I felt two people enter my shield. I looked up to see Alice and Esme run up to me with concern etched on their faces.

"You can't run away from everything Bells." I rolled my eyes at the little Pixie in front of me as she stood with her hand on her hips.

"I'm not running away. I needed space."

"You can't ignore your feelings… I know you're upset and you need to tell someone. Irina feels awful about what she did." I sighed sitting on a rock next to Esme who wrapped an arm around my shoulder as she continued. "Please go talk to her. You'll see she's really nice."

"I know she is Esme. I've heard you guys talk about her and she sounds super nice but it's hard. She is the reason I almost lost my daughter. I want to get to know her but its hard to forget what happened."

Esme nodded and rubbed my arm looking over at Alice.

"That's why were going to be with you the whole time. If you ever feel uncomfortable and need out we can make a safe word and you can escape. The safe word will be… camera." I nodded at the small vampire and stood for us all to head home.

Esme opened the door and we all walked in and found seats with our mates. I looked around at the others and sighed burrowing into Edward.

Kate and Grace had taken place on one of the arm chairs, Kate on Grace's lap, the dark haired girls chin on the blonds shoulder. Irina was sat underneath them on the ground, her back pressed against Grace's legs. Tanya had her head in her sisters lap staring at the ceiling her feet resting in Garrets lap.

Carmen and Eleazar were wrapped up with each other on the love seat, Carlisle and now Esme in a similar position on the end of the sectional. Rosalie and Emmet sitting not far from them in a similar position to Grace and Kate. Alice and Jasper were sitting on the rocking chair, Alice on her partners lap. Renesmee was leaning against my legs with her legs draped over Jacobs lap on the floor.

I looked over at Irina and took a deep breath.

"Irina… I would like to get to know you. I've heard many stories of your pranks you've pulled on your sisters and could use some tips." I smirked slightly at the look of pure delight on Irina's face.

"Yes!" She grinned like the Cheshire cat causing Carmen and Esme to groan simultaneously. I laughed looking over at Esme with an innocent look on my face. "What?" I heard Irina ask in a mock innocent tone. "Carmen I'm innocent. I haven't even done anything!"

"You better not do anything Bella. I'm not going to warn you again. If you ruin one more couch with your pranks you are grounded for life." I looked towards Edward then back at Esme.

"Yes mom." She rolled her eyes at me as I shrugged causing irina to turn to look at me with her eyebrows raised. "I won't ruin your couch. I'll just ruin mine and Edwards." Edward whipped around to look at me eyes wide. "I'm kidding! I wont ruin anymore couches…" I grumbled crossing my arms slouching back pouting.

Edward chuckled and kissed my temple settling back with me.

"What did you do?!" Irina asked bouncing forcing her sisters head off her lap.

* * *

Esme's POV

I laughed watching Bella and Irina curl up on the floor whispering quietly, Emmett made his way over to them and sat conferring with them in god knows what those three got up to. Kate who had shifted off Grace's lap also joined the trio. I watched Grace pout at her mate then turned and caught my eye.

"Katie left me." She pouted at me.

"Em left me." Rose pouted crossing her arms. Edward just chuckled and rolled his eyes at the pouting girls.

"Bella left my side and I'm not pouting." He pointed out as he rested back against the arm of the couch. I laughed and stood pulling out of Carlisles arms. I headed towards the kitchen to work on dinner for the two food eaters and kissed Grace's head on the way out. She stood and followed linking her arms with mine.

"I'm going to help you make dinner since Katie left me." I laughed and nodded patting her hand which was laid on my arm. I handed her a knife wih a small smile on my face.

"Then you can chop the veggies." Grace just nodded with a small wrinkle on her nose. "You can handle the gross smell G." She cut her eyes to me and she stuck her tongue out at me. "Are you sure you aren't 5 years old?"

"She is 5 years old Esme." Edward walked in chuckling. He stuck his tongue out at the raven haired girl who just stuck her tongue back out at him. Alice skipped into the room and pulled herself up on the counter. "So is that one." He motioned his hair to the pixie.

"You are too Eddie." Alice pointed out with a small smirk on her face. I rolled my eyes at the three of them. "You are the one who pouts when his wife isn't by your side all the time." Edward shot her a glare as he flicked Grace's ear after she burst out laughing.

"You were literally just pouting over Kate leaving your side." He grunted when Grace elbowed him in the gut. "Not fair…" He groaned rubbing his stomach as he shot daggers to his little sister. Alice flicked his nose. "Alice not fair! It's two against one?"

"You were picking on my twin sister." The pixie pointed out as she grinned at Grace who kissed her cheek.

"You guys are honestly like 5 year olds together. Are you sure the three of you aren't biological siblings?" The girls laughed and Edward chuckled kissing my head. He leaned against the counter. The three of them laughing, our family now complete with Irina back.

Alice, Edward and Grace in the kitchen laughing. Jacob and Renesmee had sat in the dining room to eat. Kate, Irina, Emmett and Bella scheming in the corner. Rosalie, Jasper and Tanya sitting discussing a book. I sat back down next to Carlisle and we started a conversation with Carmen and Eleazar.


	16. Chapter 16: Grading scares

Grace's POV

I sat staring at the screen of my laptop, tapping my finger impatiently, Alice sitting next to me. "Alice I'm dying… what time is it?!" I growled slightly when Alice laughed at me.

"You are staring at your laptop Grace." I sighed and looked up at the corner of my laptop screen. I groaned seeing we still had 2 minutes left. "I can't wait 2 more minutes… I need to see how we did on our exam…" I nodded laying back on the bed pulling a pillow over my face. I heard foot steps coming up the stairs and to my bedroom. I pulled the pillow off and took a deep breath.

"Come in T…" Tanya opened the door and flopped down on the bed beside the two raven haired girls.

"What are we moaning about?" She asked raising an eyebrow at my dramatic sigh. Alice rolled her eyes as she sat up and refreshed the page on her laptop. My head whipped around as she squealed in delight. Tanya laughed sitting up and placing her chin on Alice's shoulder. "Ah final grades. Nice job Al."

I bit my lip as I sat up and opened my laptop open again. I refreshed the page and scrolled down, stopping at the final grade. I felt my dead heart drop as I focused in on the grade. C-. I slammed my laptop shut, a little to hard and stood throwing the device on my pillows. I saw Alice and Tanya look over at me with confused looks on their faces.

"I need air." I muttered as I stepped out on to my patio and jumped down to the ground. I let my mind wander as I ran. I didn't have anywhere specific I was going, I just ran. I knew I wasn't good enough. I'm almost 100 years old and I can only get a C- in a math class. I mean its not like I have to sleep at all or don't have photographic memory.

I stopped mid run and turned around. My fist collided with a tree, sending it flying across the clearing and smashing into another tree. I looked around and noticed I had no idea where I was. I fell to my knees and landed on my face burying my face into the muddy grass. I heard someone come into the clearing and I whipped my head up to face them. I saw the blonde hair and the golden eyes of my mate.

"You need to stop running away Grace." I grimaced and flopped my face back down into the mud pile under me. I felt her walk over and hoist me up placing me on my feet. I turned to face her and grimaced when she started laughing. "Your face is all mud love." I reached up and used the sleeve of my jacket to wipe my face.

I turned my head and leaned into Kate, she pulled me into her arms and ran her fingers through my hair. I felt her head leaning against mine as she rubbed my back with her other hand. "One grade is not the end all be all love…" I shook my head squeezing my eyes shut.

Obviously she didn't understand. My father will always be stuck in my head. I will never be good enough. I will never be smart enough. I could see the first time I got a C- in a report card. He was… angry.

-_flashback-_

_I sat at the desk in the library of our house tapping my pencil against the paper that sat in front of me. I flinched hearing father coming in the house, slamming the front door behind him. Esme had barely been gone for a week and with not sleeping, I hadn't done so well on my latest arithmetic exam. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath preparing myself._

_When I heard him call out my name drunkenly, I stood, smoothing the creases of my dress out and grabbed the paper. "In the library father!" I called back and felt my heart rate increase as he stumbled through the hallways. The door flung open and I stumbled towards me, I instinctively took a step back. He clutched on to my hand that held the paper to catch himself. _

_He straightened up, my test paper going up with him. His eyes narrowed in on the 63% I had gotten. My breath hitched in my throat when his eyes looked up and made contact with mine. "What is this grade?" He hissed, I internally flinched and looked down to stare at my feet. _

"_My latest arithmetic exam…" _

"_This is why _she _left us. Because you're dumb and she was disappointed with you. You will learn to get better grades young lady." The next thing I knew I was lying on my back, my head leaning up against a bookshelf, my dad stalking towards me._

_-end flashback-_

Kate was holding me up by my shoulders, zapping me lightly as I was brought back to the future and where I was. "GRACE!" She called out, barely ducking in time to avoid the fire ball that fired from my hand. I whipped around and made eye contact with her. I saw where I was and felt the fire calm down. Kate pulled me into her arms and cradled the back of my head again. "Baby, where did you go my love?"

I shook my head burying my face into her chest. "She left because she was disappointed in me…" Kate just sighed and pushed me back holding my shoulder with one hand, the other cupping my face.

"She did not leave because of you or anything you did. You know that. She left to keep her son safe." I stared into her eyes searching for something. I didn't know what but something. My hand flew up to hold her face with my hand and pull her in to kiss her deeply. She kissed me back then pulled away. "What was that for?"

"For being my voice of reason." I laughed lightly when her face broke out into a grin and she started laughing. "Come on K. Lets go home?" She just nodded and took off, me following hot on her heels.

Esme's POV

I sat on the porch of our house watching Renesmee, Irina and Bella work on the garden. I loved how close the two had gotten to Irina, forgetting the past. When Alice came bounding up the steps with her backpack on and a huge grin on her face, I turned to face her. "Good grade then?" She just laughed and nodded with a huge grin on her face. I smiled until I saw her face glaze over.

She looked over at me. "Call Grace." She said then went inside without saying anything else. I stared after her unsure as to what just happened. I heard a soft laugh come from the garden and looked up at Bella.

"You look like you saw a ghost Esme." She sent me a sly grin and turned back to the tulips in front of her. I sent her a look then sat up and reached into my pocket to fish my phone out. I dialed Grace's phone number and held the phone up to me ear as it rang.

"Hello?" I heard her quiet voice come through the phone.

"Hey sweetheart. Alice told me to call you?" I said with a questioning tone.

"Oh uhm…" I heard her pause and mutter something to the person she was with. I then heard Kates voice right before Grace came back to the phone. "We'll be there in 5 minutes." I heard the click of someone hanging up the phone and then nothing.

"Ghost back mom?" I heard from Bella and shot her a look only to be met with her smirk.

It was about 10 minutes later when Kate and Grace walked through the forest line hand in hand. Grace grinned when she spotted me and ran towards me and tackled me into a hug. I laughed and hugged her tight. "I'm happy to see you to love however it hasn't been that long." I pulled back when I noticed she wasn't laughing and frowned at the look on her face.

"What's wrong my love?" I placed my hands on her shoulder. She bit her lip and looked up at me. "Did you get your grade back?" I was surprised when she stepped back and clung to Kates arm chewing the inside of her cheek.

"I uhm… I got a C-…" She flinched back which shocked me to the core until I realized why she flinched.

"That's fine babe. I know how hard you worked on that class. I'm proud of you." When I didn't reprimand her or get her in trouble she looked up at me with her gold eyes. She grinned at me and nodded quickly when she realized I had said I was proud of her. She jumped into my arms and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you mom. At least I did better in my ASL class. I got an A!" She squealed and jumped up and down clinging to my arms. "I also got a B in my Psych class." I smiled and kissed her forehead.

"Good job kiddo." She turned on her heel and wrapped her arms around Kates neck. The two girls ran off towards the Denali house. I look over at the three still in the garden. Renesmee looked at her mom then at me.

"Why did she look so scared when she told her grade nana?" I looked at Bella who nodded and nudged Renesmee towards me. I sat on a chair, her sitting beside me in the other chair confusion written all over her face.

"Do you remember my story?" She nodded slowly. "Well that was her dad. He used to get angry at her when Grace didn't get good grades. I'm assuming that the last time she got a pretty bad grade he wasn't so nice about it." Renesmee bit her lip and leaned back in her chair. I watched her face drop as she realized what that meant.

Bella came up and helped the smaller girl stand up. She took her upstairs to talk to her. I closed my eyes leaning back until I heard Carlisle's car pull up. He parked in the garage and wandered into the kitchen obviously looking for me. "Esme love?"

"Out here babe." I sat up when he pushed the door open. He scooped me up and sat in the chair, placing me on to his lap. His arms wrapped around my waist and his chin sat on my shoulder. "Grace didn't get a great grade on her math class… she was really worried. I think she needs to actually talk to someone about things. Charles did some serious damage to her mental state."

I felt more than heard him hum behind me, vibrating his chest against my back. The small motion felt relaxing as I slowly relaxed into his chest. My body slowly relaxed even more into my mates arms as his humming turned to purrs. He purposely was trying to calm me down to relax my tense shoulders.

"Don't worry my love. I will talk to Eleazar and see what the two of us can set up for her. She will be okay. She has an amazing support system behind her to help her." I buried into him closing my eyes trying to allow my body to relax.

Carlisle's POV

As I pulled into the driveway I was wondering where my beautiful mate was and what she had been doing all day. I closed the door behind me and made my way through the kitchen. "Esme love?" I called out peeking my head through the door to the living room.

"Out here babe." I smiled and opened the patio door to see Esme sitting on the deck. I pulled her up so I could pull her back down on my lap and wrap my arms around her waist. I placed my chin on her shoulder. "Grace didn't get a great grade on her math class… she was really worried. I think she needs to actually talk to someone about things. Charles did some serious damage to her mental state."

I sighed then started humming softly hoping the vibrations in my chest would help calm her down a bit. She seemed quite tense which was not normal for her. When she didn't calm down right away I knew I had to step it up a notch. I turned my hums into purrs so she would relax a bit.

"Don't worry my love. I will talk to Eleazar and see what the two of us can set up for her. She will be okay. She has an amazing support system behind her to help her." When she relaxed and buried into my chest I felt the tension in her shoulders relax.


End file.
